World Health Organization member states on Monday voted for Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to serve as Director-General for another term. .Ghebreyesus was first elected in 2017 and was the sole candidate for the role during Monday's vote. .He took to Twitter and said he is "deeply grateful for the trust and confidence of member states" and thanked all healthcare workers and WHO colleagues. ."I look forward to continuing our journey together." ."Today’s vote was the culmination of an election process that began in April 2021 when member states were invited to submit proposals for candidates for the post of Director-General," said a news release.."The WHO Executive Board, meeting in January 2022, nominated Ghebreyesus to stand for a second term.".Ghebreyesus' new mandate will begin August 16, and — as a Director-General can only be re-appointed once based on World Health Assembly rules and procedures — will only be permitted to serve this as his last term. .Before being appointed in 2017, Ghebreyesus served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia, from 2012 to 2016. Before that, he served as Ethiopia's minister of heath from 2005 to 2012 and served as chair and co-chair for several medical boards..During his time as Minister of Health, Ghebreyesus was active in many global health initiatives. Through those initiatives, he is said to have developed close ties to former American president Bill Clinton and his Clinton Foundation as well as with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He also served as vice-president of the 60th World Health Assembly in May 2007. .While serving his first term, Ghebreyesus is said to have "instituted a wide-ranging transformation of the WHO" with an aim to "promote healthier lives, protect more people in emergencies and increase equitable access to health." .Ghebreyesus guided the WHO's response during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as during outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the health impacts of other humanitarian crises.
