GENEVA Switzerland
Ethiopia national, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was on Tuesday re-elected as head of the World Health Organization, for a second five-year.
The director-general received
more than two-thirds of votes cast in the secret ballot, with 155 votes for him
out of the 160 cast. Tedros was the only nominee.
“I am humbled and honoured to
be elected to serve a second term as WHO Director-General,” he said in a tweet.
“I am deeply grateful for the
trust and confidence of member states. I thank all health workers and my
WHO colleagues around the world. I look forward to continuing our journey
together.”
Tedros, a former Ethiopian
Health minister and Foreign Affairs minister, is the first African to head the
WHO. He was first elected as WHO director-general on May 23, 2017.
In the run up to new election,
Tedros gained global support to head WHO for a second term after championing
the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, when deadline for
nominations elapsed, Germany officially nominated Tedros and sought support
from other European Union member states.
Later, at least 17 EU members,
backed by countries in other regions, formally nominated Tedros for his
re-election.
African countries, with the
exception of his home country Ethiopia, have broadly supported Tedros who
fought for more access of Covid-19 vaccines to Africa.
In September, last year, the
director-general called for vaccine equity globally.
“More than 5.7 billion doses
have been administered globally, but only 2% of those have been administered in
Africa,” Tedros said at a press conference on September 14, 2021.
“This does not only hurt the
people of Africa; it hurts all of us. The longer vaccine inequity
persists, the more the virus will keep circulating and changing, the longer the
social and economic disruption will continue, and the higher the chances that
more variants will emerge that render vaccines less effective,” he added.
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