Tedros Ghebreyesus was re-elected WHO Director-General

On May 24, within the framework of the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) session taking place in Geneva (Switzerland), World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was re-elected appointed the head of this agency for the second five-year term.

The 75th WHA President Ahmed Robleh Abdilleh announced the results after a secret ballot meeting. The vast majority of WHO member states have voted to elect Mr. Tedros to continue as WHO Director-General. Mr. Tedros is also the only candidate nominated for this position.

Speaking shortly after his re-election, Tedros said the WHO’s focus would be on preparing for emergencies and improving its performance.

Mr. Tedros said: “This unprecedented pandemic has provided many lessons and we are learning many things. However, at the same time, we can’t just stop, learn and practice, we need to practice in parallel with the learning process.“.

WHO’s focus during Tedros’ second term will be on preparing for emergencies and improving its performance. (Photo: Reuters)

Tedros’s new term officially begins on August 16. The WHO Director-General is only allowed to be re-elected once in accordance with the provisions of the World Health Assembly.

After the results were announced, representatives of many WHO member countries congratulated Mr. Tedros.

On Twitter, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said that Tedros had been re-elected WHO Director-General with 155 votes in favor of a total of 160 votes, and congratulated him. Mr. Lauterbach shared:Congratulations, he totally deserves it“.

In 2017, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made history when he became the first African leader of WHO. The former Ethiopian Foreign Minister and Health Minister has become one of the familiar faces to the world over the past two years as WHO strives to lead countries in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Quynh Chi