Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
谭德塞
1965–present
- WHO Director-General (2017–present)
Biography
Political Career and Health Diplomacy
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was born in 1965 in Asmara, then part of Ethiopia (present-day Eritrea). He pursued postgraduate education in the United Kingdom, earning an MSc in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a PhD in Community Health from the University of Nottingham. Returning to Ethiopia, he entered public service and served as Minister of Health from 2005 to 2012, substantially expanding the country's health infrastructure and building an international reputation in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria control. He subsequently served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2016.
Election as WHO Director-General
In 2017, Tedros was elected Director-General of the World Health Organization at the 70th World Health Assembly, becoming the first African to lead the organisation. His election was widely seen as reflecting a shift in global health diplomacy and a greater voice for developing nations in multilateral institutions. The Chinese government was an active supporter of his candidacy.
COVID-19 Pandemic and Controversy
In late January 2020, following a visit to Beijing and a meeting with Xi Jinping, Tedros publicly praised China's "transparency" and "leadership" in managing the outbreak; the WHO did not declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) until January 30, 2020. Critics argued that the WHO had been slow to acknowledge early warnings from Taiwan about human-to-human transmission risks and had chosen language that avoided antagonising Beijing. On March 11, 2020, Tedros formally declared COVID-19 a pandemic, by which point the virus had spread to 114 countries.
Assessment and Legacy
Tedros's handling of the pandemic drew sharp criticism from the United States and other Western governments; the Trump administration announced US withdrawal from the WHO, citing the organisation's alleged China-centrism (reversed by the Biden administration). Defenders argued that Tedros's diplomatic approach was pragmatic given the political constraints on the WHO as an intergovernmental body. He was re-elected for a second term in 2022, serving until 2027. His pandemic leadership has become a reference case for how international multilateral health institutions function under great-power competition.