The Secretariat is headed by the Director-General, who is nominated by the Executive Board and elected by Member States for a period of five years. Dr LEE Jong-wook took office as Director-General of the World Health Organization on 21 July 2003.
WHO's Secretariat is staffed by health professionals, other experts and support staff working at headquarters in Geneva, in the six regional offices and in countries. WHO's regional offices are:
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 Regional Office for Africa - located in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
Regional Office for Europe - located in Copenhagen, Denmark
Regional Office for South-East Asia - located in New Delhi, India
Regional Office for the Americas/Pan-American Health Organization -located in Washington D.C., USA
Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean - located in Cairo, Egypt
Regional Office for the Western Pacific - located in Manila, Philippines
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In carrying out its activities, WHO's secretariat focuses its work on the following six core functions:
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Articulating consistent, ethical and evidence-based policy and advocacy positions
Managing information by assessing trends and comparing performance; setting the agenda for, and stimulating research and development
Catalyzing change through technical and policy support, in ways that stimulate cooperation and action and help to build sustainable national and inter-country capacity
Negotiating and sustaining national and global partnerships
Setting, validating, monitoring and pursuing the proper implementation of norms and standards
Stimulating the development and testing of new technologies, tools and guidelines for disease control, risk reduction, health care management, and service delivery
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