WHO chief Tedros Adhanom plans to seek re-election, says report

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, plans to run for a second five-year term as the head of the agency, Stat News reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

 

Tedros, as he is widely kno­wn, has been the public face of the WHO’s efforts to grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic ever since the new SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

 

In 2017, Ethiopia’s Tedros became the first African to head the Geneva-based UN agency and made universal health care coverage his priority. A spokesman for WHO said it could not comment on pot­ential nominees. WHO’s 194 member states may propose candidates until September, whose names are sent in sealed envelopes to the Governing Board chair — ahead of the election next year.