Dr. Margaret Chan, from the People's Republic of China, is the Honorary Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO). As the 7th Director-General from January 2007 to June 2017, Dr. Chan led WHO through a period of profound change. The political, social, economic and epidemiological challenges facing health in the early 21st century have been unprecedented in their complexity and global in their impact.

Population ageing, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, obesity, and the globalized marketing of unhealthy products, chronic non communicable diseases overtook infectious diseases as the leading killers worldwide. The global economic slowdown since 2008 also affected populations around the world as many governments struggled to finance basic health services. Despite these immense challenges, Dr. Chan's leadership ensured sustained progress in improving health and life-expectancy in populations around the world. During her tenure, Dr. Chan led the global movement on “universal health coverage”, and the global response to major health emergencies like the influenza pandemic, Ebola and Zika epidemics. She has also transformed WHO into one of the most transparent and accountable international organizations by initiating an ambitious program of reform since 2011. As Director-General, Dr. Chan frequently emphasized the importance of working in partnership with other stakeholders in society to achieve common goals in health.

Dr. Chan obtained her B.A., M.D. and DSc degrees from the Western University, Canada and a MSc in public health from the National University of Singapore. She completed a program for management development at Harvard Business School in Boston.