Tedros Adhanom is an Ethiopian public health official and researcher who is currently serving his second term as Director-General of the World Health Organization after first being appointed in 2017 and is the first African to hold the position. He previously held high-profile government posts in Ethiopia including Minister of Health from 2005 to 2012 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2016. During his tenure in the ministry, he reformed the healthcare workforce and contributed significantly in accelerating progress against diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, apart from reducing maternal mortality and child mortality rates. He has played key roles in the WHO’s response to the Ebola virus epidemic, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing 2022 monkeypox outbreak. However, he was severely criticized after he praised China for its containment measures during the COVID-19 pandemic for overlooking affronts to human rights, including censorship and repression. During his tenure, the US President Donald Trump cut the country’s funding to the organization. The Ethiopian government also demanded that WHO investigated him for soliciting support for the Tigray People's Liberation Front, which he denied.
