Member-States of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday re-elected Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus to serve as the Director-General (DG) of the Organization for the second term of five years. His re-election was contained in a statement published on the WHO’s website which disclosed that he was the sole candidate and his second term commences officially on August 16, 2022.
The statement reads in part, “Today’s vote was the culmination of an election process that began in April 2021 when 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 served as Ethiopia’s Minister of Health (2005-2012) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2012-2016) prior to his first appointment as WHO DG in 2017.
Commenting on his first term as WHO DG, the statement noted that, “Dr. Tedros instituted a wide-ranging transformation of the WHO, aimed at increasing the Organization’s efficiency driving impact at 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 Congo, and the health impacts of multiple other humanitarian crises”.
