Geneva:
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus — who has grow to be the face of the agency’s battle against the pandemic — will run for a second term, Stat News reported Monday.
The 56-year-old former Ethiopian wellness minister and minister of foreign affairs has not mentioned publicly irrespective of whether or not he plans to seek yet another term.
But an unnamed supply close to Tedros told the US wellness news internet site that the director-basic intends to stand for re-election when his term expires next year.
When contacted by AFP, the WHO did not say irrespective of whether Tedros would certainly run for a second term, only that the nomination period opened last month.
“Member states may nominate candidates between now and September,” the agency mentioned in an e mail.
“All proposals are sent in sealed envelopes to the Chair of the Executive Board and are strictly confidential until opened in due course,” it added.
Tedros was elected as the head of WHO in 2017, becoming the very first African to ever take the helm of the UN wellness agency.
WHO director-generals could serve a maximum of two 5-year terms, and have to be elected by WHO member states every time.
Tedros was thrust onto the international stage with a quantity of higher-profile wellness emergencies — most notably the Covid pandemic, but also numerous fresh Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in West Africa.
The WHO has located itself at the heart of efforts to coordinate the international pandemic response.
Its handling of the crisis has been broadly praised, but has also met harsh criticism from some quarters, and in distinct from the administration of former US president Donald Trump.
Trump accused the organisation of becoming a puppet to China and started withdrawing the United States from the organisation in protest — a selection instantly rescinded by President Joe Biden when he took workplace in January.
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