Tedros Adhanom: The First African Leading The World Health Organisation (WHO)

Tedros Adhanom, Featured Ghebreyesus is an Ethiopian biologist, public health researcher and official who has served since 2017 as Director-General of the World Health Organization. He was born in Asmara on March 3, 1965.

One formative, and now motivating experience, was the death of a younger brother, who was around four years old at the time, he told Time magazine in November. Later, as a student, Dr Tedros came to suspect it was measles that killed him. Tedros often discusses this occurrence as a defining experience in regards to the need for global healthcare.

In 1986, Tedros received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Asmara and later in 1992, he received a Master of Science degree in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine at the University of London.

Dr Tedros served as Ethiopia’s Minister of Health from 2005–2012, where he led a comprehensive reform of the country’s health system. The transformation he led as Ethiopia’s Minister of Health improved access to health care for millions of people. Under his leadership, Ethiopia invested in critical health infrastructure, expanded its health workforce, and developed innovative health financing mechanisms.

In 1986, after his first degree, Tedros joined the Ministry of Health of the Derg as a junior public health expert and was later appointed head of the Tigray Regional Health Bureau in 2001. In late 2003, Tedros was appointed a State Minister (deputy minister) for Health and served for just over a year.

Dr Tedros served as Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012–2016. In this role, he led efforts to negotiate the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, in which 193 countries committed to the financing necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. He was awarded the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award in recognition of his contributions to the field of public health in 2011 and he received the Decoration of the Order of Serbian Flag in 2016.

In May 2017, the Ethiopian public health researcher became the first non-physician and the first person from the WHO African Region to serve as WHO’s chief technical and administrative officer. His candour in steering the challenging times has been quite exemplary, leaving no doubt that he would be able to lead the world through the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.

In early 2020, Tedros oversaw the world’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Adhanom has been providing a rallying point and continuous engagement in the response to the coronavirus outbreak. He is also overseeing the development of the COVID-19 vaccine by various organizations and rightfully plays the role of the global incident manager of the pandemic. Dr Tedros makes the Neusroom 100 list as one of the pivotal men that are at the heart of managing the pandemic in the world.