Director General of the World Health Organisation Dr Lee Jong Wook

On Sunday, 17 August 2003, Breakfast with Frost featured an interview with Dr. Lee Jong Wook, Director General, World Health Organisation

Please note "BBC Breakfast with Frost" must be credited if any part of this transcript is used

PETER SISSONS: China's last two Sars patients left hospital yesterday, but health experts warn that this is unlikely to be the end of the disease as they still don't know what caused it.

Dr. Lee Jong Wook has taken over as head of the World Health Organisation, the body that led the fight against the mysterious virus. But SARS isn't the only killer disease he has to tackle.

AIDS and malaria still kill thousands of people every day. Well, Dr Lee joins me now from his Geneva headquarters. Dr Lee, welcome. Tell us about SARS first. It is beaten, or could it re-emerge?

DR LEE: Well, that is a big question. We assume this might come back and we are preparing for that, but no-one can really tell.

PETER SISSONS: We're told that it started among exotic animals in China and these animals could soon be back on the menu and that could start the disease again. Have you got a view on that?

LEE JONG WOOK: Well the scientists in Hong Kong and China as well as the WHO are looking into these issues and we are now testing blood and other specimens from animals and so clearly we will know more about it in time.

PETER SISSONS: But do we know enough about Sars now to contain it, to keep it under control if it did re-emerge?

LEE JONG WOOK: Well yes, now that we have a very specific diagnostic test that is very important because if it comes back, especially in the coming winter, mixed with the common cold and flu, then it will be very important to know that what is advice and what is SARS and what is not SARS among the people who developed the fever and coughing. And then also we know now that the DNA sequence of this virus so that we know a great deal about the virus and also WHO is now strengthening our capacity to detect a problem early.

PETER SISSONS: What do you feel is your biggest problem. HIV Aids in Africa?

LEE JONG WOOK: Indeed it is a big problem because now 27 million people are infected and about six million people need immediate attention with anti-retroviral drugs. But we are planning to put about three million people by 2005 on anti-retroviral treatment.

PETER SISSONS: Three million out of the 27 million who are infected.

LEE JONG WOOK: Well 27 million are infected but they don't require anti-retroviral treatment right now and that out of 27 million we believe about six million need anti-retroviral treatment and among this we would like to put three million in two years' time.

PETER SISSONS: How much of a handicap has it been for you, the way the South African government appears to have been dragging its feet over the HIV problem?

LEE JONG WOOK: Well luckily they are changing their position and they are also working very constructively to give infected people anti-retroviral treatment. So it is a big turnaround and we are very happy about that.

PETER SISSONS: What are the other big threats to global health?

LEE JONG WOOK: Well clearly that the malaria is a big problem. Malaria is still the single biggest killer disease of under-fives in the African Continent. We need a malaria vaccine and we need the malaria drugs and the more bad the malaria is a big problem and then also the vaccine preventable diseases and then also that we have been working on the global community has been working on polio eradication for 15 years and we really plan to finish this by 2005.

PETER SISSONS: Are there any other killer diseases that are in line for actual eradication, that we could wipe out?

LEE JONG WOOK: Well, that clearly in the history of mankind smallpox has been the only disease which has been eradicated by human effort, so that clearly the polio is a big task. Before we plan to eradicate any other disease.

PETER SISSONS: You told your staff, Dr. Lee, to be ready for new threats. What did you mean by that?

LEE JONG WOOK: New threats means there are many but clearly that Sars showed us that this is the first new disease in the new Millennium but this will not be the last one because if we look back at the past three decades there were new and re-emerging diseases, so that clearly we have to be prepared for a new SARS-like disease. But also problems like tuberculosis which is still killing two million people a year.

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