WHO Re-Elects Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus To Second Term As WHO Director-General
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
World Health Organization (WHO) the Member States on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, re-elected Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to serve a second five-year term as Director-General of the world’s leading public health agency. Dr Tedros was first elected in 2017.
This was contained in a News Release by the world health body posted on its official website.
His re-election was confirmed during the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva. He was the sole candidate.
“I am humbled by the opportunity provided by the Member States to serve a second term as WHO Director-General,” said Dr Tedros.
“This honour, though, comes with great responsibility and I am committed to working with all countries, my colleagues around the world, and our valued partners, to ensure WHO delivers on its mission to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.”
Today’s vote was the culmination of an election process that began in April 2021 when the Member States were invited to submit proposals for candidates for the post of Director-General. The WHO Executive Board, meeting in January 2022, nominated Dr Tedros to stand for a second term.
Dr Tedros’s new mandate officially commences on 16 August 2022. A Director-General can be re-appointed once, in accordance with World Health Assembly rules and procedures.
During his first term, Dr Tedros instituted a wide-ranging Transformation of the WHO, aimed at increasing the Organization’s efficiency driving impact at the country level to promote healthier lives, protect more people in emergencies and increase equitable access to health. He also guided WHO’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the health impacts of multiple other humanitarian crises.
Before first being appointed WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia from 2012 to 2016 and as Minister of Health, Ethiopia from 2005 to 2012. He had also served as chair of the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; as chair of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership Board; and as co-chair of the Board of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
