WHO elects Ethiopian as first African director-general

The World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the United Nations health agency (WHO), has elected former Ethiopian Health Minister Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as its new director-general – the first time that a representative of the African continent has filled the post.

Dr Tedros beat his closest rival, British candidate, Dr David Nabarro, after three rounds of close-called voting on Tuesday. Dr Sania Nishtar of Pakisatan came in third.

In an election process that began before September 2016, the African Union endorsed Dr Tedros’s candidacy in January, however, in spite of the backing of the AU, delegates from at least two West African nations that are former French colonies said they preferred the French candidate, Professor Philippe Douste-Blazy.

Election

Prior to his election, Dr Tedros served as Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012-2016 and as Minister of Health from 2005-2012. He has 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, according to a WHO statement from Geneva yesterday.

Minister of Heath

As Minister of Health, Ethiopia, Dr Tedros led a comprehensive reform effort of the country's health system, including the expansion of the country’s health infrastructure, creating 3500 health centres and 16 000 health posts; expanded the health workforce by 38 000 health extension workers; and initiated financing mechanisms to expand health insurance coverage. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, he led the effort to negotiate the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, in which 193 countries committed to the financing necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

As Chair of the Global Fund and of RBM, Dr Tedros secured record funding for the two organisations and created the Global Malaria Action Plan, which expanded RBM’s reach beyond Africa to Asia and Latin America.

Dr Tedros will succeed Dr Margaret Chan, who has been WHO’s director-general since 1 January 2007.

Ebola outbreak

In her final address, after serving two consecutive five-year terms as head of the organisation, Dr Chan yesterday urged the WHO to “remember the people” behind the facts and figures, and took personal responsibility for the WHO’s delayed response in 2014 to the Ebola outbreak in East Africa.

“We falter sometimes, but we never give up,” she said. “The fact that, in 2015, nearly one billion people received free treatments that protect them from diseases that blind, maim, deform, and debilitate has little impact on the world’s geopolitical situation. The people being protected are among the poorest in the world,” Dr Chan said.

“WHO was too slow to recognise that the [Ebola] virus, during its first appearance in West Africa, would behave very differently than during past outbreaks in central Africa, where the virus was rare but familiar and containment measures were well-rehearsed.”

While the organisation made “quick course corrections” to bring three outbreaks under control and helped create the first Ebola vaccine, the outbreak happened on Dr Chan’s watch, for which she acknowledged “I am personally accountable.”

Dr Tedros will begin his five-year term on 1 July.