'Belated Pandemic Declaration' WHO Secretary-General Challenges for Re-election

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO)
[Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), who has been embroiled in controversy over inadequate COVID-19 response, appears to be seeking reappointment.

On the 3rd (local time), the U.S. health media Stat News cited an anonymous source close to Director-General Ghebreyesus, reporting that "he intends to run for re-election next year."

The term for the WHO Director-General is five years. If Ghebreyesus succeeds in his reappointment at the World Health Assembly (WHA) election held in May next year, he will hold the position until 2027.

With his term ending next year, he has not yet publicly stated his plans for reappointment. Regarding this, WHO only responded to AFP news agency that "member states can nominate candidates until September."

Ghebreyesus, who previously served as Ethiopia's Minister of Health and Foreign Affairs, is the first African and non-physician Director-General in the history of WHO. While overseeing global health policy during the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been criticized for delayed responses and biased attitudes from the early stages of the outbreak.

He has been particularly criticized for escalating the situation due to pro-China controversies. Elected as WHO Director-General in 2017 with China's support, he is known as a prominent pro-China figure. During the early stages of COVID-19, he was criticized for remarks such as "The world owes China because the country’s lockdown of Wuhan helped avoid a crisis."

He was also criticized for declaring the pandemic belatedly, 70 days after reports of unexplained pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, and for a passive attitude toward investigating the origins of COVID-19, with accusations that he consistently sought to appease China without achieving clear results.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.