Tedros Adhanom One of Three Finalists for WHO Top Position

January 25, 2017 - The World Health Organization announced Wednesday that three finalists are in the running to become the next director-general of the global health agency.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, 51, of Ethiopia, Dr. Sania Nishtar, 53, of Pakistan, and Dr. David Nabarro, 67, of Britain were selected as finalists in the competition to replace Dr. Margaret Chan, whose second term of office ends June 30. Their voting tallies were in that order, sources told STAT.

Knocked out of contention were Dr. Flavia Bustreo, 55, of Italy, a WHO assistant director-general, and France’s Dr. Philippe Douste-Blazy, 64, at one point considered a strong contender for the job.

The election of the global health agency’s eighth director-general will take place in May when its 194 member states convene in Geneva for the WHO’s annual general meeting, the World Health Assembly.

The contenders are vying to take the reins of the UN’s leading health agency, which has been buffeted by criticism in recent years, largely due to its slow response to massive outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014.

Multiple post-mortem reports slammed the WHO’s handling of that crisis and called for an overhaul of the agency, particularly its emergency response capacity. That work is underway with the creation of a health emergencies program.

Dr. Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said whoever wins the role has a big job on his or her hands.
“Under the leadership of one of these candidates, the WHO needs to make the case for greater investment in public health and be fearless in calling out countries that fail to play their part,” Farrar said in a statement.

“This is a time for decisive, inspirational leadership. It’s a chance to start a new chapter in global health. We look forward to hearing more from the shortlisted candidates about how they will provide this leadership in the months remaining before the World Health Assembly.”

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