Mugabe a goodwill envoy!
Critics urge WHO to reverse choice
The World Health Organisation should overturn its decision to appoint Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador, global health leaders said yesterday.
Britain said Mugabe's appointment risked overshadowing the WHO's global work. The US, which has imposed sanctions on Mugabe for alleged rights violations, said it was "disappointed."
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the appointment at a high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Uruguay on Wednesday.
The NCD Alliance, which represents 28 health groups, said it was "shocked" to hear of the appointment.
Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust charity, called on Tedros to reverse it.
Rights activists also criticised the move.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, described it as "sickening".
He noted that Mugabe himself had travelled to Singapore for medical treatment three times this year rather than in his homeland.