The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) has formally accepted four candidates seeking to serve as its director-general as of Thursday, one of whom will succeed incumbent Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is term-limited.
The W.H.O. lists as the current candidates former Qatari health minister Dr. Hanan Mohammed Al-Kuwari, W.H.O. Eastern Mediterranean director Dr. Hanan Hassan Balkhy, W.H.O. Europe Regional Director Dr. Hans Henri Kluge, and Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin as the individuals who have been submitted as candidates by member states of the organization. Al-Kuwari and Sadikin were nominated by their respective home countries, while Balkhy was nominated this week by Saudi Arabia and Kluge by Belgium.
The new head of the United Nations health agency will receive an organization whose reputation is in tatters following the tempestuous and controversial term under Tedros, the first individual without a medical doctorate to run the agency. Tedros’ term has been largely defined by his poor handling of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, which has killed over 7 million people since emerging from central China in late 2019.
Outside of the coronavirus response, a sex abuse scandal in Ebola-plagued Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), widespread global disagreement on the parameters of a proposed global “pandemic treaty” delaying the initiative, and a new and rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak caught months late in the DRC have raised many questions as to the efficacy of the institution.
Tedros was first elected director-general of the W.H.O. in 2017 and re-elected, unopposed, to a second five-year term in office in 2022. His last term is expected to conclude in May.
To replace him, the W.H.O. is expected to hold elections as part of the World Health Assembly that month, the annual gathering of representatives of member states of the agency. The W.H.O. has given countries up to September 24 to submit nominations for director-general candidates. Those candidates, the agency detailed in a document explaining the election process, must conform to a list of criteria including physical fitness – a medical examination is required – and “a strong technical background in a health field.” Other requirements include “demonstrable leadership skills,” good communication, “sensitivity to cultural, social, and political differences,” and a commitment to the “mission and objectives” of the agency.
All four current candidates have experience in public health, serving as health ministers or within the W.H.O. management structure. Not all are medical doctors; Indonesia’s health minister, Sadikin, is a nuclear physicist with a strong finance background. Sadikin appears to be playing these differences as strengths, particularly given the W.H.O.’s increased fundraising needs after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agency, refusing to pay millions in fees to keep the agency afloat.
In contrast, the other candidates in the race are touting their administrative experience, particularly those actively running subdivisions of the W.H.O. before their nominations. Dr. Kluge, the European regional director, published a “manifesto” with his proposals for the agency on Tuesday, emphasizing the need for “people-centered” initiatives.
“At the heart of this vision is a WHO that puts countries first, is people-centered, and organized as a network,” Kluge said in a message on social media. “A WHO that always stays one step ahead of global health challenges and always acts in partnership.”
Kluge comes in with the experience of helping lead the response to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic in Europe, as he assumed the position as W.H.O. regional leader in February 2020. Dr. Balkhy, the Eastern Mediterranean director, took over in 2024, missing the height of the pandemic’s early days, but previously worked in the W.H.O.’s antimicrobial resistance arm. As a physician, Balkhy served as a pediatrician. In her statement accepting the nomination, she highlighted her work in helping combat the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a precursor to the Wuhan coronavirus, and in coordinating with diplomats from many countries.
Perhaps in a nod to the defining shortcoming of Tedros’s tenure, she emphasized the need to rebuild global trust in the agency.
“I believe that the World Health Organization must build trust, deliver impact, and demonstrate the value it provides to every Member State,” Balkhy.
Dr. Hanan Al Kuwari, the Qatari candidate, was responsible for Qatar’s domestic response to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic but, with it, gained the unique experience of preparing the country for an influx of thousands of global travelers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. While the World Cup was widely considered a disgrace for Qatar’s use of slave labor to build venues, the persecution of suspected gay people in anticipation of and during the soccer tournament, various mysterious journalist deaths, and other situations at the tournament, it did not prove to become a “superspeader” event and Qatar did appear to successfully contain any potential of mass infection.
As the window for nominating candidates is open through late September, it is possible that new names will surface as potential successors to Tedros, and with that bring a host of new factors into the race. Candidates are expected to campaign, making their cases to member nations of the W.H.O. in the months prior to the World Health Assembly next year.
