Everyone needs to remember that Ebola was not a worst-case scenario. Preparedness for the future means preparedness for a very severe disease that spreads via the airborne route or can be transmitted during the incubation period, before an infected person shows telltale signs of illness.

Margaret Chan

HIV AIDS is a disease with stigma. And we have learned with experience, not just with HIV AIDS but with other diseases, countries for many reasons are sometimes hesitant to admit they have a problem.

Margaret Chan

aids-day hiv country

We need to empower women. Give women a voice in the decision-making process. Give women a political voice where they can champion, for their own welfare. And, of course, for us. United Nations - organizations, agencies - we need to do our part.

Margaret Chan

agency voice organization

Health system development is a key to effective detection, response, and control of any outbreak.

Margaret Chan

outbreaks development keys

The way I look at - speaking as a woman - I understand what it means to be a daughter, and to be a wife, and to be a mother, and also to be a career woman. The multiple roles that women can play in a society if given the opportunity is really a tremendous asset.

Margaret Chan

daughter mother mean

Some experts say we are moving back to the pre-antibiotic era. No. This will be a post-antibiotic era. In terms of new replacement antibiotics, the pipeline is virtually dry. A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as strep throat or a child's scratched knee could once again kill.

Margaret Chan

mean children moving

I want us to be judged by the impact we have on the health of the people of Africa and the health of women. Improvements in the health of the people of Africa and the health of women are key indicators of the performance of WHO. This is a health organization for the whole world... But we must focus our attention on the people in greatest need.

Margaret Chan

impact keys organization

A health system that lacks commodities for managing high-mortality infectious diseases and the main killers of mothers and young children will not have an adequate impact. By the same token, even the best-stocked delivery system will have an inadequate impact if it fails to reach the poor.

Margaret Chan

impact mother children

Tobacco is the only industry that produces products to make huge profits and at the same time damage the health and kill their consumers.

Margaret Chan

tobacco-industry profit damage

I have a reputation for being a straight-talker.

Margaret Chan

talkers reputation

For the first time in history, we can track the evolution of a pandemic in real-time... Influenza viruses are notorious for their rapid mutation and unpredictable behaviour.

Margaret Chan

pandemics track real

I think U.N. organizations are important organizations. They exist for good reasons. And we also admit that there is room for us to improve the way we do business. The WHO will be a very positive and proactive partner in the overall U.N. reform, which is also important.

Margaret Chan

important organization thinking

Maternal mortality health is a very sensitive indicator. All you need to look at is a country's maternal mortality rate. That is a surrogate for whether the country's health system is functioning. If it works for women, I'm sure it will work for men.

Margaret Chan

men country needs

Avoid activities outdoor. If you like to take an afternoon nap sleep under bed net. So these are measures that can be done to minimize [the] chance of infection [with Zika virus].

Margaret Chan

bed naps sleep

We should never forget the government should be held accountable for providing services.

Margaret Chan

never-forget government should

The international community should treat this as a window of opportunity to ramp up preparedness and response.

Margaret Chan

community opportunity window

...we hope to stop the transmission in six to nine months

Margaret Chan

ebola months nine

Doctors and nurses, with their training and their experiences, they would be able to detect unusual patterns of disease. That's why we say it is important for every country to have a proper surveillance system. The function of the surveillance system is to detect unusual patterns of diseases.

Margaret Chan

doctors nurse country

When you're dealing with new and emerging diseases, you have no idea and you can't predict in advance what would happen.

Margaret Chan

no-idea disease ideas

What amazes me most is that the media and I have fostered a close relationship.

Margaret Chan

close-relationship media

All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans. Countries should remain on high alert for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia.

Margaret Chan

pandemics pneumonia country