Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was elected World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General for a five-year term by WHO Member States at the Seventieth World Health Assembly in May 2017. He was the first WHO Director-General elected from multiple candidates by the World Health Assembly and the first from the WHO African Region to head the world’s leading public health agency. Born in Asmara, Eritrea, Dr. Tedros earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Asmara, followed by a Master’s degree in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from the University of London, a PhD in Community Health from the University of Nottingham, and an Honorary Fellowship from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. After his studies, Dr. Tedros returned to Ethiopia, where he initially worked as a field-level malariologist, before leading a regional health service and serving over a decade in the Ethiopian federal government as both Minister of Health and Minister of Foreign Affairs. As Minister of Health from 2005 to 2012, he led a comprehensive reform of the country’s health system, built on the foundation of universal health coverage and provision of services to all people, even in the most remote areas. Under his leadership, Ethiopia expanded its health infrastructure, developed innovative health financing mechanisms, and expanded its health workforce. A major component of reforms he drove was the creation of a primary health care extension programme that deployed 40 000 female health workers throughout the country, contributing to a 60% reduction in child and maternal mortality compared to 2000 levels. As Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2016, Dr. Tedros brought health to the forefront of political discourse nationally and globally. In this role, he led efforts to negotiate the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, in which 193 countries committed to financing the Sustainable Development Goals. Before his election as WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros held key leadership positions in global health, including as Chair of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Chair of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, and Co-chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Board. Since assuming office on July 1, 2017, Dr. Tedros has initiated the most comprehensive transformation in WHO’s history, achieving a range of significant milestones.