How ‘China-centric’ Tedros Ghebreyesus became first non-doctor WHO chief ‘after Beijing lobbied for him’
THE BOSS of the World Health Organisation, who has recently come under fire for being “China-centric”, had an unlikely rise to the top.
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus is both the first African and non-doctor WHO chief, and was allegedly backed by Chinese diplomats when he stood to head up the organisation in 2017.
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The WHO director general has recently been blasted for his perceived closeness to China’s President Xi Jinping, and critics say he has ignored the government’s record of human rights abuses and its lack of transparency throughout the pandemic.
During a trip to Beijing in January this year, Dr Tedros has said the country had set “a new standard for outbreak control”, and days later at a security conference said China’s actions had “bought the world time.”
But Dr Tedros’s background has also drawn controversy – when he was health minister in Ethiopia he discouraged journalists from reporting on Cholera in the country, and when he ran to become head of the WHO in 2017, he was allegedly backed by Chinese diplomats.
CHINESE SUPPORT
Reports from 2017 claim the diplomats secured Dr Tedros’s appointment as WHO chief.
The Times wrote that “Chinese diplomats had campaigned hard for the Ethiopian, using Beijing’s financial clout and opaque aid budget to build support for him among developing countries.”
In 2017, Dr Tedros won the ballot to become director general of the WHO by 133 votes to 50, becoming the first African head of the organisation, and the first without a medical background.
In part, his victory came thanks to 50 out of 54 African states voting for him.
Dr Tedros was born in 1965 in Ethiopia, and rose to the top of the country’s government, becoming health minister and foreign minister before joining the WHO.
He studied biology in Ethiopia, graduating in 1986, and then become a member of the TPLF, the party which overthrew Ethiopia’s Marxist dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam, in 1991.
After, he moved to the UK and studied postgraduate courses at the London School of Hygiene & Tropic Medicine and the University of Nottingham, where he received his PhD.
Dr Tedros then returned to Ethiopia, where he become health minister in 2005.
During his tenure, which lasted until 2012, he came under fire for discouraging journalists from reporting on suspected cholera cases in the country.
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In recent weeks, Dr Tedros has been accused of ignoring the Chinese government’s lack of transparency over coronavirus.
Senior British politicians have criticised Beijing for protecting its international image rather than stopping the spread of Covid-19.
Tom Tugendhat, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Tuesday: “Rather than helping other countries prepare a swift and strong response, it is increasingly apparent that they manipulated vital information about the virus in order to protect the regime’s image.”
If you don’t want more body bags, then refrain from politicising it. No need to use Covid to score political points.
Dr Tedros, WHO director general
The WHO boss came under his fiercest criticism yet on Tuesday, as Donald Trump threatened to cut off $58 million in funding to the WHO for being “very China-centric”.
The US President also accused the organisation of failing to acknowledge the seriousness of the disease when it started in Wuhan in December.
Dr Tedros today hit back, saying: “If you don’t want more body bags, then refrain from politicising it. No need to use Covid to score political points.”
He added: “I don’t care who says what about me. I prepare to focus on saving lives.”
When Covid-19 was first reported by a doctor in Wuhan, the Chinese government forced him to confess to inventing the claims – he later died of the virus.
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Despite being criticised for supporting China during the coronavirus pandemic, some have said his aim is to push China to become more transparent in its reporting of coronavirus.
Lawrence Gostin, Professor of Global Health Law at Georgetown University in Washington, told the BBC: “His strategy is to coax China to transparency and international co-operation rather than criticising the government.”
There are currently over 1.4 million cases of Covid-19 worldwide, and over 87,000 people have died.
