Ghebreyesus, left, elected to lead the WHO
Vice President Victor Bockarie Foh has congratulated the new World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was elected on Tuesday, after a tight, three-round, contest.
Dr. Tedros, as he is known, beat the British candidate, Dr. David Nabarro. Third was Pakistan’s Dr. Sania Nishtar. The decision by member states came at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, 23 May 2017.
Dr. Tedros is well-regarded, particularly by aid donors, for his stewardship of health in the Ethiopian government from 2005 to 2012. In the latter stages of the campaign, however, there were allegations about the human rights record and lack of transparency of the Ethiopian government. One U.S. academic accused him of trying to hide a cholera epidemic that occurred in Ethiopia on his watch.
Dr. Nabarro’s pitch for power rested on his long career at the UN, where he has played a trouble-shooting role in a number of epidemics including the Ebola crisis in West Africa. Nabarro was sent in to boost the response by the UN Secretary General, then Ban Ki-moon. Later he chaired the advisory committee set up by the outgoing WHO Director General, Margaret Chan.
The campaign to lead the WHO began with the nominations of six candidates in September last year. The first one to fall by the wayside in January, when the WHO’s executive board selected the finalists, was the Hungarian former health minister Dr. Miklós Szócska, followed swiftly by Italy’s Dr. Flavia Bustreo and France’s Professor Philippe Douste-Blazy.
Dr. Tedros visited the Vice President during the DG campaign period to solicit Sierra Leone support. VP Foh said, “I am very happy for him and for Africa for his victory, I hope he will always think of Sierra Leone and make Africa proud as he is the first African to have held such lucrative position in WHO.”
Thursday May 25, 2017.