1. Lee Jong-wook was the director-general of the World Health Organization for three years.
19 Facts About Lee Jong-wook
1. 2.
Lee Jong-wook began his term as director-general in 2004, and was the first figure from Korea to lead an international agency.
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In 2004, Lee Jong-wook was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.
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Lee Jong-wook received a Bachelors in Engineering from Hanyang University, followed by a medical degree at Seoul National University, and a Master of Medicine at the University of Hawaii in public health.
5.
Lee Jong-wook is the third son in a family of six children; he has three brothers and two sisters.
6.
Lee Jong-wook took care of leprosy patients in Anyang, South Korea when he was studying medicine.
7.
Lee Jong-wook met and later married Kaburaki Reiko, a Japanese woman who visited Korea in order to volunteer in the country.
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Lee Jong-wook worked at the World Health Organization, at country, regional and headquarter levels for 23 years.
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Lee Jong-wook started his work as an advisor on leprosy, and later treated tuberculosis and promoted the vaccination of children against preventable diseases.
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In 1994, Lee Jong-wook moved to Geneva to work at WHO headquarters as chief in prevention and vaccines.
11.
The 3 by 5 policy, which was the basic idea of Lee Jong-wook, was largely criticized by many concerned people.
12.
Lee Jong-wook visited 60 countries in the three years of his Generalship including Darfur, Sudan, sites of the Indian Ocean tsunami, Madagascar, Mauritius.
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Lee Jong-wook was famed as a man of action during this time.
14.
Lee Jong-wook died on 22 May 2006, in intensive care unit of Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland, following emergency surgery for a blood clot in the brain.
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Lee Jong-wook had been preparing for UN general meetings when he fell ill at a weekend luncheon.
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Lee Jong-wook was a strong voice for the right of every man, woman, and child to health prevention and care, and advocated on behalf of the very poorest people.
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Lee Jong-wook provided tremendous leadership to the international community as it confronted the challenges of the 21st century, including the threat of an influenza pandemic.
18.
Lee Jong-wook was posthumously awarded the Hibiscus Cordon of the Order of Civil Merit by the South Korean government.
19.
Lee Jong-wook was survived by Reiko Kaburaki Lee; the couple has one son, Tadahiro Lee.