MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Doctor Tedros to remain WHO Director-General

Under Tedros the WHO is highly dependent on donations and non-state contributions

The Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been re-elected for a second 5-year term as Director-General of the World Health Organization, it was announced.

The 57-year-old former Health Minister of Ethiopia was picked behind closed doors in a voting session where there was no other contender, so the result came as no surprise.

After his appointment was announced, Tedros said he interpreted his re-election as “a support for all the recent work of the WHO” since December 31, 2019, when the Chinese government reported the appearance of what would later be known as COVID-19.

“When I was notified that day I had just spent two weeks on vacation, the first since my appointment as director-general, and they were also the last I have had,” he recalled. The United Nations official vowed that during his new tenure the priority “will not be to deal with diseases, but to promote health.”

The “sustainable financing” of the organization, currently highly dependent on donations and non-state contributions, will be another priority. Tedros said at an assembly in which a modification of the WHO's budgetary architecture is expected to be approved.

Tedros was under heavy criticism during Donald Trump's presidency of the United States. Trump intended to leave WHO and he might have already done so if he had been reelected.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was first chosen over multiple candidates for the post in May 2017. He thus became the first African to head the world’s leading public health agency.

He has a Bachelor's degree in Biology, before earning a Master of Science (MSc) in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from the University of London, a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Community Health from the University of Nottingham, and an Honorary Fellowship from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

In Ethiopia, he served as Minister of Health (2005-2012) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2012-2016). He has also held numerous leading managerial positions in global health entities such as Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Board.