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 WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus named Mugabe to the
largely ceremonial post at a meeting on Wednesday in Uruguay on
chronic diseases attended by both men.
At the time, Tedros praised Zimbabwe as "a country that places
universal health coverage and health promotion at the center of its
policies to provide healthcare to all".
But Tedros said in a statement that he had listened to those
expressing concerns and heard the "different issues" raised.
"Over the last few days, I have reflected on my appointment of H.E.
President Robert Mugabe as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for NCDs
(non-communicable diseases) in Africa. As a result I have decided to
rescind the appointment," Tedros said.
The decision had been taken after consultation with the Harare
government and was "in the best interests of the World Health
Organization", he said.
Jeremy Farrar, a global health specialist and director of the
Wellcome Trust charity and the NCD alliance, representing health
groups combating chronic diseases, welcomed the reversal.
"Dr Tedros deserves all our support to ensure he and WHO build a
global health movement that is inclusive and works to improve health
for everyone," Farrar said in a statement.
Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Walter Muzembi accepted the move while
insisting that WHO had "benefited tremendously" from having
nominated Mugabe and the media buzz it brought to health issues.
"So on the balance, it is wiser to let go, and help WHO focus on its
mandate while we focus Zimbabwe on its membership obligations,"
Muzembi said in a government statement.
Several former and current WHO staff had said privately they were
appalled at the "poor judgment" and "miscalculation" by Tedros,
elected the first African head of WHO in May.
Mugabe was head of the African Union when the bloc endorsed Tedros -
a former health and foreign minister of Ethiopia - over other
African candidates for the top post, without any real regional
contest, they said.
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Mugabe, 93, is blamed in the West for destroying Zimbabwe's economy
and for numerous human rights abuses during his 37 years leading the
country as either president or prime minister.
Britain had said Mugabe's appointment as a goodwill ambassador was
"surprising and disappointing" and that it risked overshadowing the
WHO's global work. The United States, which has imposed sanctions on
Mugabe for alleged human rights violations, also voiced
disappointment.
"He (Tedros) has to remember where his funding comes from," said one
health official who declined to be identified.
The Trump administration, which is already questioning financial
support for some United Nations agencies, is WHO's largest single
donor.
WHO is struggling to recover a reputation tarnished by its slowness
in tackling the Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people
in West Africa from 2014-2015 under Tedros' predecessor, Margaret
Chan.
The agency is now grappling with a massive cholera outbreak in Yemen
that has infected some 800,000 people in the past year and a plague
outbreak in Madagascar that has killed nearly 100 in two months.
(Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe in Harare, editing by
Larry King)
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