Head of U.N. Health Agency Dies at 61

World Health Organization WHO Assistant Director-General Margaret Chan of China, center, front, and other delegates observe a minute of silence at the opening of the 59th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, May 22, 2006, after the announcement that WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook has died after undergoing emergency surgery for a blood clot in his brain over the weekend. (AP Photo/Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi) (Salvatore Di Nolfi - AP)

GENEVA -- Dr. Lee Jong-wook, who led the U.N. health agency's battles against SARS and bird flu, died Monday following surgery for a blood clot in the brain. He was 61.

Tributes praised Lee for his effectiveness in spurring the world to build its defenses against a potentially deadly flu pandemic during his tenure as director-general of the World Health Organization.

"Dr. Lee worked tirelessly to improve the health of millions of people, from combating tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS to his aggressive efforts to eradicate polio," President Bush said in a statement.

"The world has lost a great man today," said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "He tackled the most difficult problems head on, while upholding the highest principles."

Lee fell ill Saturday while attending a function in Geneva and underwent surgery later that day, the agency said. Anders Nordstrom of Sweden will take over as WHO's acting director-general.

The opening session of the World Health Assembly, the annual meeting of the 192 members of WHO, observed two minutes of silence Monday, and flags flew at half-staff outside the U.N. European headquarters building, where the meeting took place.

Lee, who became director-general of WHO in 2003 as the agency was winding up its battle against the SARS outbreak in Asia, worked for the agency for 23 years.

He was the first South Korean to head a U.N. agency, after winning praise for his low-key but efficient management style as head of the agency's tuberculosis program, and was named one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2004.

Lee initially said his priority was to improve international monitoring to help tackle outbreaks of diseases like SARS and that his mandate would be defined by the fight against HIV/AIDS, particularly in the hardest-hit poor countries.

But his time in office came to be dominated by the high-profile spread of bird flu through Asia, Europe and Africa and its potential for causing a human influenza pandemic.

A keen sportsman, Lee also introduced a ban on hiring smokers to work at WHO.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, who traveled with Lee last year to six southeast Asian countries to learn about a possible influenza pandemic, said he believed Lee chose to devote himself to public service because of his experience of hardship at an early age in war-torn Korea.