Six Candidates Emerge in Race to Succeed Tedros as WHO Chief

Six people are now publicly in the race to lead the World Health Organization (WHO) but the full list will not be official until November.

Countries had until 24 September 2026 to put names forward, and six had been listed on WHO's website by the time the deadline closed, Health Policy Watch reported on 25 September.

The winner will succeed Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's Director-General from Ethiopia, whose second and final term ends on 15 August 2027, according to WHO.

Who has stepped forward

Dr Hans Henri Kluge, WHO's Regional Director for Europe, was nominated by Belgium, and Dr Hanan Balkhy, the agency's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, was nominated by Saudi Arabia.

Both have stepped aside from their posts to campaign. Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Qatar's former Minister of Public Health, and Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesia's Minister of Health, were nominated by their own governments.

Dr María Neira, a longtime WHO director, was nominated by Spain on the final day, while Dr Gevorg Tamamyan, an Armenian children's cancer specialist, was nominated by Botswana, which makes him the only candidate put forward by an African country, Health Policy Watch reported.

Filings still kept private

The six may not be the whole field.

WHO told Health Policy Watch that a country can ask for its nominee to be shown early on the agency's website, but if it does not ask, the name stays confidential until WHO publishes the full list after the last regional meeting, expected in early November.

Health Policy Watch also reported that Dr Jiho Cha, a South Korean lawmaker, was announced as a candidate at a panel in New York on 24 September, but his nomination could not be confirmed, and South Korea's government did not respond to its questions.

What the winner inherits

Whoever wins will lead an organisation with less money and fewer staff.

WHO cut its planned 2026 to 2027 budget from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion, a drop of about $1.1 billion, and still faces a shortfall of up to $300 million, Health Policy Watch reported.

To cope, the agency is removing more than 2,300 posts, roughly a quarter of its staff.

The cuts followed the United States' exit from WHO, which Washington ordered in 2025 after President Donald Trump accused the agency of mishandling COVID, a claim WHO denies, according to Reuters.

The calendar to May

The first candidates' forum opens in Geneva on 18 November 2026, and WHO's 34-member Executive Board will meet in January 2027 to pick up to three finalists.

The World Health Assembly, the yearly meeting of WHO's member countries, will then choose the next Director-General by secret ballot in May 2027, and the winner takes office on 16 August 2027.