WHO chief says Fidel Castro "looks wonderful"

HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro "looks wonderful," World Health Organization director general Margaret Chan said on Wednesday, after meeting the 83-year-old who resigned the presidency last year due to ailing health.

Chan, speaking at the end of her first visit to Cuba, said she met with Castro for more two hours on Tuesday during which he displayed a "truly impressive" knowledge of healthcare issues and looked to be in good condition.

"I'm a doctor, I understand the importance of confidentiality, but I have to say he looks wonderful," Chan told a press conference in Havana.

When their talk was over, "I was humbled. He walked me out of the house -- that's quite a distance, so pretty strong," she said of his condition.

Castro has not been seen in public except for videos and photos since July 2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery.

In February 2008, after taking power in a 1959 revolution and holding it for 49 years, he quit the presidency, citing age and health issues, and was succeeded by younger brother Raul Castro, 78.

Fidel Castro still meets with visiting dignitaries and writes columns, usually about international affairs, for Cuban media.

In a 24-minute video shown on Cuban television in August, he looked fit as he spoke with a group of Venezuelan law students, but rumors still pop up occasionally that he is at death's door.

Chan said she toured Cuban medical facilities and came away impressed with the communist-led island's health system, which provides free care to all Cubans.

Citing its strong health indicators on such things as life expectancy and infant mortality, she said, "In a country of this level of economic development, to be able to achieve those very good health indices is not easy."

Cuba, she said, "has the right vision and the right direction. Health is a state policy and health is seen as a right of the people."

Cuba's health system is widely praised for its preventative measures and basic care, but also suffers from problems such as shortages of medicine and equipment and badly maintained facilities. The government blames the U.S. trade embargo against the island for many of the system's deficiencies.

Chan said the World Health Organization has helped 121 countries, including Cuba, stockpile doses of the medicine Tamiflu to treat H1N1 flu, which has killed nearly 5,000 people globally since appearing earlier this year.

She said the organization is working to procure H1N1 vaccines for developing countries and so far "we have pledges from the vaccine manufacturers and development partners to a total of 200 million doses."

She said the vaccines would become available over the next year and be distributed to "about 100 countries," likely including Cuba.

(Reporting by Jeff Franks; Editing by Tom Brown and Vicki Allen)