2023-05-04 from cbc.ca

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that it has dismissed a senior scientist, known for his role as the head of an international mission to China in 2021 to probe the origins of COVID-19, for sexual misconduct.

The UN agency said Peter Ben Embarek, a Danish scientist who previously headed up its One Health initiative on diseases jumping from animals to humans, was removed from his post last year. In a response to Reuters, Ben Embarek said he contested the accusation of harassment and was challenging the sanction.

"Peter Ben Embarek was dismissed last year following findings of sexual misconduct against him that were substantiated by investigations, and corresponding disciplinary process," said WHO spokesperson Marcia Poole.

Poole said the cases that led to the dismissal occurred in 2015 and 2017. The agency was first made aware of them in 2018. The WHO did not provide further details of the misconduct allegations.

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