Director-General of the World Health Organization

Director-General of the World Health Organization
Logo of the World Health Organization
Flag of the World Health Organization
Incumbent Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus since 1 July 2017
WHO Secretariat
Style	Director-General
Type	Chief administrative officer
Reports to	World Health Assembly
Nominator	Executive Board
Appointer	World Health Assembly
Term length	5 years, renewable
Formation	7 April 1948 (1948-04-07)
First holder	Brock Chisholm
Deputy	Deputy Director-General

The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) is the chief executive officer of the World Health Organization and the principal advisor to the United Nations on matters pertaining global health. The director general is elected by and answers to the World Health Assembly (WHA). The current director-general is Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was appointed on 1 July 2017, and re-appointed on 24 May 2022. The Director-General also leads the WHO Secretariat and is also the ex-officio Secretary of the World Health Assembly, the WHO Executive Board, and of all commissions and committees, and conferences convened by the Organization.

Selection process

Candidates for Director-General can be proposed by Member States, then nominated by the executive board and appointed by the World Health Assembly.

The appointment process begins more than one year prior to the May vote, when the WHO sends out a letter informing Member States that the nomination process has begun. The nomination period ends in mid-September, and candidates are announced at the end of October. If there are multiple candidates, the executive board of the WHO — a panel of members from 34 member countries representing the various WHO regions — interviews the nominees.

The term of the Director-General lasts for five years. Office holders can be and have been appointed for multiple subsequent terms, such as Marcolino Gomes Candau who served for four consecutive terms. The Director-General is typically appointed in May, when the WHA meets.

List of Directors-General of the WHO

No.	Image	Nationality	Name	Tenure
1		Canada	Brock Chisholm	1948–1953
2		Brazil	Marcolino Gomes Candau	1953–1973
3		Denmark	Halfdan T. Mahler	1973–1988
4		Japan	Hiroshi Nakajima 中嶋 宏	1988–1998
5		Norway	Gro Harlem Brundtland	21 July 1998 – 28 January 2003
6		South Korea	Lee Jong-wook 이종욱	28 January 2003 – 23 May 2006
–		Sweden	Anders Nordström*	23 May 2006 – 9 November 2006
7		Hong Kong	Margaret Chan	9 November 2006 – 30 June 2017
8		Ethiopia	Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus ቴዎድሮስ አድሓኖም ገብረኢየሱስ	2017–Incumbent
*Appointed acting Director-General following the death of Lee Jong-wook while in office