Dr. Twodros Adanom, 52, a biologist and public health expert from Ethiopia, will begin his five-year term on July 17. He is also the first Director-General elected by WHO 194 member countries. Prior to this, the election of the Director-General of WHO was completed by a three-year executive committee composed of 34 member countries.
Dr. Adanom was born into an engineer family. 2005-20 12, served as Minister of Health of Ethiopia. 20 12 to 20 16 as Ethiopian foreign minister. Therefore, he was nominated by the Ethiopian government to run for the highest position in WHO.
Many people think that he is a well-educated researcher and a conscientious scientist. 1986 obtained a degree in biology from Asma University. Later, he joined the Ethiopian Ministry of Health as a primary public health expert.
During the period of 1974-1987, Ethiopia was ruled by warlords, police and military coordination committees. After the fall of dictator mengistu, Adanom returned to school, studied for a master's degree at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and received a doctorate in public health from the University of Nottingham in 2000.
201On May 24th, June, he announced his candidacy for the Director-General of WHO, and he was the only African candidate. At the same time, he has also received the support of the African Union and the health ministers of various countries.
Dr. Adanom emphasized that he was elected to this position based on his achievements and many domestic and international academic qualifications. His campaign slogan is "* * * Create a healthier world". He believes that we are in the most urgent period, and he will bring a new vision to WHO.
At its meeting140th in June, 20 17, the WHO Executive Committee listed Dr. Adanom as one of the six candidates after two rounds of closed-door voting. In June, he became the first non-doctor director-general of WHO from a developing country.
Dr. Adanom will take over the health institutions that have been paralyzed since the outbreak of Ebola crisis in West Africa on 20 14. Many previous reports called for large-scale reform of WHO.
Dr Falar, CEO of Global Vaccine Alliance, said: "He has made unremitting efforts to reform the medical system in Ethiopia and Africa. In this critical historical period, he will restore the prestige of WHO with extraordinary insight and outstanding political leadership. "
Faral said that when Adanom was Ethiopian Minister of Health, he raised the vaccination rate of children from less than half to more than two thirds, saving tens of thousands of children's lives. In 200 1 year, Dr. Adanom was appointed as the director of Tigray District Health Bureau. As a director, he reduced the incidence of AIDS by 22.3% and the cases of meningitis by 68.5%. He promoted the popularization of information technology, installed computers for most hospitals and clinics in this area, and connected the Internet for the first time.
At the end of 2003, Dr. Adanom was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Health for more than one year. It was during this period that he drafted an ambitious medical reform plan.
As a world-renowned expert on malaria research, he and others have written many articles on malaria and other global health issues, which have been published in major scientific journals, including Chronicle of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, The Lancet, Nature, Parasitology and British Medical Journal.
Dr. Adanom's pioneering work won him the honor of Young Researcher of the Year in American Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and won the Ethiopian Young Researcher Award in 2003. In 20 1 1 year, Dr. Adanom became the first non-American to receive the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Humanitarian Award from the American Infectious Diseases Foundation. 20 12 was awarded honorary academician by Stanley Woodward of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Yale University in March.
He is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and the Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
He was selected by British cable TV magazine as the 50 people who changed the world in 20 12. The magazine wrote that Dr. Adanom used innovative technology to save millions of Ethiopian lives.
Instead of building an expensive hospital, he set up a training program and trained 35,000 medical workers. These people can be seen in almost every medical service point in Ethiopia, especially the most vulnerable women and children, with the least medical services.
New African, the best-selling African magazine in Britain, lists Dr. Adanom as 100 one of the most influential Africans in the field of politics and public service. The magazine called him a "pioneer" and "reformer" when he was Ethiopian Minister of Health, because he greatly improved the medical situation in Ethiopia through large-scale training and arranging medical staff.