Health Report.The World Health Organization saysit has reached a limit in its fightagainst diseases and disasters.Director-General Margaret Chan saysthe agency is "overextended" andfaces "serious funding shortfalls."Dr. Chan says the WHO is no longeroperating "at the levelof top performance thatis increasingly needed, and expected."She told the agency's Executive Boardon Monday that the level of actionshould not be governedby the size of a problem.Instead, it should be governedby the extent to which the WHOcan have an effect on the problem.Dr. Chan said one of the mostexciting developments recentlyis a new vaccine that could endAfrica's deadly meningitis epidemics.She said no large drug companywanted to develop the vaccinebecause it would not bring big profits.So a group of researchers developed itwith major support fromthe Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.MARGARET CHAN: "The vaccine was developed,from start to finish,in less than a decade, in record time,and at about one-tenth of the costusually needed to bring a productthrough development to the market.African countries frequently haveto wait for years, if not decades,for new medical products to trickleinto their health systems.Not this time."African scientists tested the vaccine.The first countrywide vaccination campaigntook place in Burkina Faso in December.This is being followedby similar campaigns in Mali and Niger.But Dr. Chan notedthere are twenty-five countriesin Africa's so-called meningitis belt.Many do not have enough moneyfor vaccination campaigns.The WHO chief warned that a shortageof money could also limit other progress.She said public health has beenon what she called "a winning streak."She pointed out the meningitis vaccineas well as new vaccinesfor preventing diarrheal diseaseand pneumonia and a new testfor tuberculosis.But she questioned whether there areenough resources to maintain,if not speed up, these gains.MARGARET CHAN: "Treated bed nets needto be replaced.Antiretroviral therapy for AIDSis a lifeline, for a lifetime.Case finding and treatmentfor tuberculosis are a constant undertakingthat needs to intensify.Every new generation of babiesmust be protectedfrom vaccine-preventable diseases.Last year, we launchedan aggressive new strategyfor polio eradication.Does the international communityhave the stamina, and the resources,to reach the milestones?"The World Health Organizationis part of the United Nations.The Executive Board is meeting this weekin Geneva to prepare for the nextWorld Health Assembly in May.And that's the VOA Special EnglishHealth Report.