(4 minutes read)
· Along with the fatal viral that shook the mankind, one
person, who has become more known, other than in the health circles,
is Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
· The fact is that unlike his predecessors, Tedros is not a
medical doctor and is more known as a malaria researcher and acclaimed
for implementing improved and innovative schemes in Ethiopia in
healthcare ever since he joined the Ethiopian government service after
graduating from the University of Asmara in 1986.
In a short time span of time, coronavirus has become a household
name, though in a negative sense. Its global spread is creating
unprecedented fear among people and consternation among health
administrators and the governments, so much so that modern science has
to admit that it does not have a known medicine to treat the pandemic.
Along with the fatal viral that shook the mankind, one person, who has
become more known, other than in the health circles, is Dr Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Many even pose a question: who is he? Google surf
might quench your curiosity, where it is mentioned that he is an
Ethiopian politician and academic who is now Director-General of the
World Health Organization (WHO) and he has been elected to the post
since 2017. His previous assignments included Minister of Health of
Ethiopia (2005-2012) and later as Minister of Foreign Affairs
(2012-16).
The fact is that unlike his predecessors, Tedros is not a medical
doctor and is more known as a malaria researcher and acclaimed for
implementing improved and innovative schemes in Ethiopia in healthcare
ever since he joined the Ethiopian government service after graduating
from the University of Asmara in 1986. He piloted a number of
innovative and health reforms that substantially improved peoples’
access to health services. Some of those efforts include training
over 40,000 female health extension workers, reducing infant
mortality, establishing medical centres, focusing on the supply-side
of health workers etc. In July 2009, he was elected to the Board of
Chair of the Global Fund to Fight AID, Tuberculosis and Malaria for
a two-year term.
Tedros was born in 1965 in Asmara Eritrea to Adhanom Gebreyesus and
Melashu Weldegabir. After serving the government of Ethiopia in
various posts, in late 2003 he was appointed as the State Minister for
Health for a very short period. Two years later, he was appointed
Minister of Health in October 2005 by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
During 2005–2008 he built 4,000 health centres, trained and deployed
more than 30,000 health extension workers and developed a new cadre of
hospital management professionals.
During his time as Minister of Health of Ethiopia, Tedros has been
very active in global health initiatives and left an imprint on the
global health architecture. Later, he became Ethiopia’s Minister of
Foreign Affairs (November 2012 until 2016) and member of the
Executive Council of the AU in 2014, Issues like economic
emancipation, peace and stability, the acceleration of rapid economic
growth, governance and democratization of Africa were highlighted
during his assignment as the foreign minister. He also played a
crucial role in containing Ebola epidemic urging countries to adhere
to the WHO guidelines, including the full implementation of the
International Health Regulations.
On 24 May 2016 Tedros announced his candidacy for the post of the
Director-General of the WHO as the sole African candidate, which was
endorsed by the African Union and Ministers of Health of the
continent. The Executive Board of the WHO shortlisted Tedros as the
front runner out of six candidates through two rounds of secret voting
in January 2017. On 23 May 2017, Tedros was elected as the
Director-General for the WHO with an overwhelming 133 votes out of
185, as the first African to hold that post.
