FORMER Health undersecretary Dr. Susan Pineda-Mercado was appointed as the World Health Organization's (WHO) Director for Program Management in the Western Pacific region Thursday.

Mercado is the first Filipino to assume the second highest position in a WHO region, according to the Department of Health (DoH).

Her appointment was announced by WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr. Saia Ma'u Piukala of Tonga, Thursday.

"The future is bright! Dr. Susan Mercado deserves the honor of this appointment. RD Saia has chosen his deputy well — the Philippines and our fellow member states will find that she can be counted on to deliver for the health of all people of the Western Pacific. Congratulations," Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said.

Mercado was one of the candidates for WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, proposed by the Philippines, along with other nominees from China, Vietnam, Solomon Islands, and Tonga.

She is a physician and public health expert, with over 30 years of experience in public health practice, policies, systems, and field operations.

She has held health leadership positions at national and international levels, including 15 years of experience at senior management level within the WHO.

At the largest tertiary care hospital in the Philippines, Mercado helped establish the country's first hospital-based day care center, providing child care services for both hospital patients and health care workers.

This people-centered approach provided the foundation for her subsequent work in civil society as president of the Green Coalition in 1990-1992, the first health and environment nongovernmental organization in the Philippines that focused on the impact of environmental degradation on health in the Philippines.

She also became the medical director of Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko Foundation, a nonprofit organization utilizing health communications through television to mobilize private sector support for indigent patients and community-based health projects as a means to promote health equity, from 1990 to 2000.

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