Dr. Alejandro Mohar Betancourt elected as new member of the INCB

Press release

Dr. Alejandro Mohar Betancourt was elected on 7 November 2013 to the UN International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). He will serve in his personal capacity as one of 13 global experts.

The election of the Mexican candidate is a recognition of his academic and professional career in the health sector. Dr. Mohar’s participation on the Board will enrich and diversify the composition of this global body. His detailed knowledge and extensive experience in health issues at the national and regional levels will bring a hemispheric perspective to the INCB’s worldwide projects while creating synergies and balances to ensure their integrity and sustainability in order to face today’s challenges relating to the world drug problem.

Dr. Mohar’s participation on the INCB extends the tradition of Latin American and Mexican specialists that have brought regional views that have made a positive impact on the Board’s work.

The INCB, based Vienna, Austria, consists of 13 members elected by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The Board members serve in their personal capacity and not as government representatives. Dr. Mohar will finish out the 2012-2017 term of Ambassador Jorge Montaño, who left the post to serve as Mexico’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Dr. Mohar graduated as a surgeon from the UNAM. He has a specialty in anatomic pathology from the National Institute of Nutrition, and Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Epidemiology from Harvard University’s School of Public Health. From 2003-2013, he served as Director General of the National Cancer Institute, the leading center for cancer care and research in Mexico.

The INCB is the independent and quasi-judicial monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations international drug control conventions. It was established in 1968 in accordance with the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 to monitor implementation of the international drug control treaties.