Geneva, Nov 22 (IANS): Margaret Chan, the incumbent chief of the World Health Organization (WHO), has become the only candidate proposed by members to compete for next term of the post, the Geneva-based organization announced Monday.

The organization's 194 members were given the opportunity to propose candidates from July 4 to Nov 15. Only China submitted a nomination of Chan, reported Xinhua.

In the next stage, the WHO Secretariat will translate the proposal and the candidate's curriculum vitae into the six official languages of the UN and dispatch them to all members by Dec 15.

The WHO Executive Board will meet in Geneva in January 2012 to vote on whether to propose the candidate to the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of WHO, which will make the final decision at its meeting scheduled for May 21-26, 2012.

Chan, born in 1947 in Hong Kong, joined WHO as director of the Department for Protection of the Human Environment in 2003 and was appointed to the post of director-general in November 2006. Her term will run through June 2012.