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Ousted WHO Official Takeshi Kasai Has Background in Emergency Medicine

AP file photo
Takeshi Kasai addresses the media in Manila on Oct. 7, 2019.

&The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:28 JST, March 9, 2023

Ousted World Health Organization official Takeshi Kasai is a doctor with a background in emergency medicine and an expert in infectious diseases and health crisis management.

Kasai has been dismissed from his post as director of the WHO’s Western Pacific Regional Office over allegedly racist behavior, He joined the WHO after working at the then Health and Welfare Ministry.

He released a statement after allegations about racist and abusive misconduct emerged, saying that he never targeted employees of a particular nationality, although he acknowledged being hard on staff. Kasai also denied the accusation that he leaked confidential information.