Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom picked to head WHO

Ethiopia's former health minister Tedros Adhanom has been elected as the new director-general of the United Nation's World Health Organisation (WHO).

The five-hour vote in Geneva Switzerland on Tuesday saw Dr Tedros — who campaigned under his first name — beat British candidate David Nabarro, after two rounds of voting by garnering 133 votes.

After nearly two years of public campaigning, originally by six candidates, the election itself took place in a closed-door session in which health ministers of 185 of the world’s countries cast their ballots in secret, making Dr Tedros the first African and a non-medical doctor to head the UN agency.

Dr Nabarro, 67, was best-known for leading the campaigns of various United Nations agencies against avian and swine flu, Ebola, malaria, hunger and other crises.

Dr Sania Nishtar, a Pakistani cardiologist and expert in non-communicable diseases on the other hand, was eliminated after a first round with 38 votes.

CONTROVERSY

Prior to his election as WHO’s next boss, Dr Tedros served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (2012-2016) and as Minister of Health (2005-2012).

He has also served as chair of the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; as chair of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership Board, and as co-chair of the Board of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

Although his election has not been without controversy, Dr Tedros, 52, is known for having drastically cut deaths from malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis and neonatal problems when he was Ethiopia’s health minister.

The race began in 2015 and turned bitter at the very end, when an adviser to Dr Nabarro accused Dr Tedros of having covered up repeated outbreaks of cholera in his home country, which lowered the chances of an international response and, more recently, the use of cholera vaccine.

PROTESTS

He was also accused of complicity in his country’s dismal human rights record, which includes massacring protesters and jailing and torturing journalists and political opponents.

Dozens of Ethiopians opposed to his candidacy demonstrated outside the Palace of Nations in Geneva, where the vote took place, and one individual who interrupted the proceedings was thrown out.

He will replace Margaret Chan who will step down from her 10-year post at the end of June.

Who is Dr Tedros?

• Age: 52
• Family life: Married, with five children and lives in Ethiopia
• Previous jobs: Ethiopian minister of health and foreign affairs, chairman of the board of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria
• Qualifications: Internationally recognised malaria researcher, with a PhD in community health

Top five priorities in his new job:

• Advancing universal health coverage
• Ensuring WHO responds rapidly and effectively to disease outbreaks and emergencies.
• Putting the wellbeing of women, children and adolescents at the centre of global health and development
• Helping nations address the effects of climate change on health
• Making the agency transparent and accountable.