World Health Organization head to seek second five-year term

Published by BBN Staff at May 4, 2021

Tags

Posted: Tuesday, May 4, 2021. 9:22 am CST.

By Aaron Humes: According to Reuters, Ethiopia’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, plans to run for a second five-year term as the head of the agency, Stat News reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Tedros, the first African to head the Geneva-based United Nations agency, has been the public face of the WHO’s efforts to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic ever since the new SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

When first elected in 2017 he made universal health care coverage his priority.

At present it is known whether there will be any challengers, but Reuters quotes diplomats as saying Tedros may not be able to even count of support from his home country and other African nations after being accused of, and denying, supporting and trying to procure arms and diplomatic backing for Tigray state’s dominant political party, which is fighting federal forces.

Tedros, whose global profile has risen dramatically during the pandemic, flew to Beijing in January 2020 for talks with President Xi Jinping to ensure its cooperation and sharing of information, just before declaring a worldwide health emergency.

The Trump administration accused Tedros and the WHO of being “China-centric” – allegations they rejected – and halted U.S. contributions while starting the process of leaving the agency. The Biden administration announced immediately after taking office in January that it would remain a member and fulfil its financial obligations while working on reforms.

Tedros distanced himself from the findings of a WHO-led mission this year, written jointly with Chinese scientists, that investigated the origins of the virus. The report issued on March 30 said the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal, and that a lab leak was “extremely unlikely” as a cause.

Tedros said that data had been withheld from the team and that the lab issue required further investigation.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Belize ~ We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages. Your content is delivered instantly to thousands of users in Belize and abroad! Contact us at mаrkеtіng@brеаkіngbеlіzеnеwѕ.соm or call us at 501-612-0315.