Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
@drtedros
Director-General of the World Health Organization. Reposts are not endorsements.
Science has enabled humanity to achieve extraordinary progress, but the challenge facing global health today is not simply how to produce innovation. For more than 125 years, Fiocruz has demonstrated that scientific excellence and social commitment are mutually reinforcing.
Deeply humbled to accept the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from Fiocruz. I accept this honour on behalf of the many colleagues with whom I have worked throughout my career, also on behalf of health workers around the world, who continue to serve their communities with courage, skill and compassion.
The @who.int Constitution was never the work of one nation. It was built through international collaboration & signed by representatives from every region of the world. Different cultures. Different political systems. Different histories. United by one belief: health is a fundamental human right.
South Africa's Dr Harry Sutherland Gear signed the WHO Constitution on behalf of the Union of South Africa, and later served as a member of the Executive Board, and as senior WHO official helping shape its early administrative and technical structures.
Ethiopia's Mr Getahoun Tesemma championed transparent public health reporting and intervened in structural constitutional debates to advocate for developing countries.
Egypt's Dr Aly Tewfik Shousha Pasha chaired Scope and Functions Committee, responsible for defining exactly what the WHO's global mandate, responsibilities, and day-to-day duties would be.
African leaders also played an important role in shaping the WHO Constitution: Liberia's Dr Joseph Nathaniel Togba helped draft and sign the Constitution before later serving as the seventh President of the World Health Assembly.
Dr Brock Chisholm did not draft the Constitution. He brought it to life. As @who.int's first Director-General, he transformed its founding vision into action, leading the Organization through its earliest years and helping establish the institution we know today.
France also played a key role. André Cavaillon and Xavier Leclainche co-submitted France's draft Constitution, contributing ideas that informed the final text signed 80 years ago.
Building @who.int required more than vision. It required drafting every principle, every article and every commitment. Sir William Jameson represented the United Kingdom throughout the drafting process and submitted one of the constitutional texts that helped shape the final document.
🇳🇴 Dr Karl Evang was among the architects who shaped @who.int's foundations. As a member of the Technical Preparatory Committee, he helped define how the world's new health organization would work, demonstrating that lasting institutions are built through expertise, dialogue and shared purpose.
Dr Andrija Štampar's, a 🇭🇷 representing Yugoslavia at the time, words at the 1946 Conference became the opening of the @who.int Constitution: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being." He later served as the first president of the WHA in 1948.
But the man who was the initial author of the broader conceptions of international health work that developed between the two World Wars was 🇵🇱 Ludwik Rajchman, Medical Director of the Health Organization of the League. He later played a key role in the establishment of UNICEF.
The @who.int idea did not emerge from scratch. Dr Raymond Gautier of 🇨🇭 brought his experience from the League of Nations Health Organisation into the creation of WHO. He later served as one of the first Assistant Director-General from 1948 until his retirement in 1950.
At the 1945 San Francisco Conference establishing the UN, 🇨🇳 diplomat Dr Szeming Sze first proposed creating a dedicated global health organization. Together with 🇧🇷's Dr Geraldo de Paula Souza, he transformed that vision into reality.
The @who.int Constitution did not appear overnight. Dr Thomas Parran, 🇺🇸 Surgeon General, convened and chaired the 1946 International Health Conference in New York, where delegates finalized and signed the Constitution. His leadership helped turn an ambitious vision into an international institution.
In a turbulent world of increasing division, we can all agree that everyone who sets out on a journey, to work, to school, to see the people they love, should reach their destination safely. I call on world leaders to ensure new UN declaration on #RoadSafety becomes more than words on a page.
Road deaths fall by 21% but stronger action is needed to save lives bit.ly/4hm2Ldc I commend countries for the strong political declaration adopted at the UN High-Level meeting on #RoadSafety, which aims to ensure more roads are designed for people first, not motor vehicles, with safety as priority
JeanTodt got me safely to the UN. Now it's time for the real mission. World leaders are gathering for the High-Level Meeting on #RoadSafety to make new commitments that will save lives on the world's roads. @who.int stands ready to support them, so everyone can reach their destination safely.
Everyone who sets out on a journey deserves to arrive safely. Yet every minute, more than two people lose their lives on the world’s roads. Jean Todt and I have arrived in New York for the UN High Level Meeting on #RoadSafety with one message for world leaders: invest in safer road systems now!
Digital environments are not neutral. How they are designed, governed and monetized shape the health and wellbeing of our children. President Emmanuel Macron and I published an op-ed on the choices we face to protect children from digital harms while harnessing technology for health: bit.ly/4eE1mgz
Last week's earthquake in #Venezuela has left 2300+ people dead, 5000+ injured and nearly 16,000 homeless. @who.int is coordinating Emergency Medical Teams on the ground to provide trauma care and support the national health system in maintaining essential health services.
The #hantavirus outbreak is over. However, @who.int will continue working with governments and partners to advance our understanding of the cause of this outbreak and of hantavirus more generally.
Today, the final contact of a person exposed to #hantavirus on the cruise ship MV Hondius completed their quarantine period, tested negative and returned home. No further cases have been reported since the 25th of May. Therefore, @who.int considers the hantavirus outbreak over.
Digital spaces bring opportunities, but also risks for children’s health and development. With President Emmanuel Macron, we call for collective action to better protect young users while harnessing what technology can offer: bit.ly/4eE1mgz
Heat affects everyone, but heatwaves can also become a major health hazard for people attending mass gatherings and sporting events. #BeatTheHeat
No young person should relive the collective trauma we all endured from COVID-19. So I asked them to do one thing: tell the story of the Pandemic Agreement to their communities. The Agreement only works if countries join it. Their voices can help make that happen.