The World Health Organization (WHO) has “terminated the contract” of its regional director for the Western Pacific, Japanese Takeshi Kasai, accused of racism and abuse of office, a diplomatic source in Geneva said, citing AFP, News.ro reported.

This is the first such situation at the WHO, which temporarily replaced Dr. Kasai with the Deputy Director General of the WHO, Zhuzhanna Jakab. According to a diplomatic source in Geneva, she will remain in the post until the regional committee selects a replacement.

The decision to part ways with Dr. Kasai came after a two-day meeting of the organization’s executive committee held in Geneva, and follows a dismissal recommendation issued last week by the regional committee for the Western Pacific.

In October 2021, dozens of WHO staff signed an internal complaint against Dr Kasai, who in 2019 headed the Western Pacific Regional Office, which covers 1.9 billion people in 37 countries. In mid-January 2022, disgruntled staff sent an email to member countries of the UN agency’s Executive Board to warn them.

Kasai, accused of “wasting” donors’ money

These people accused Dr Kasai of an “authoritarian and racist leadership style”, as well as regularly sharing confidential information with Japan’s foreign ministry, being unwilling to criticize China and “wasting donor money”. These serious allegations were made public at the end of January 2022 by the Associated Press news agency.

The election of a new regional director should be held in October 2023. Elected by the Member States of the region they lead and then by the Member States of the WHO Executive Committee, WHO Regional Directors have important powers.