Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Publishes 2026/2027 World Health Organization Rules
The world health organization has opened the campaign to elect its next Director-General after Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus published draft guidelines and a proposed timetable for the 2026/2027 race. The package goes to member states for review at the upcoming World Health Assembly and the Executive Board.
The rules draw a line between campaign activity and WHO business. Staff members who enter the contest will be placed on annual leave immediately, then moved to mandatory special leave with half pay once that allowance runs out, up to the January 2027 Executive Board nominations.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Sets the timetable
Tedros circulated the draft as the nomination process formally opened. The election cycle is expected to return to physical campaigning at regional committee sessions, after the 2021 race unfolded during the COVID-19 pandemic, featured an incumbent, and leaned heavily on remote adaptations.
The current contest begins inside a body that is sharply polarized and under budget strain after the United States withdrew last year. WHO is also carrying out massive workforce reductions, which leaves the leadership race moving through a weaker institution than the one that managed the previous contest.
WHO staff face leave rules
The draft guidelines would require current WHO staff candidates to step away from daily duties while they campaign. If those candidates make the final shortlist, their full salary would be restored for the remainder of the race.
WHO Regional Directors are exempt from the annual leave rule by past precedent. That includes Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Director, and Hans Kluge, WHO’s European Regional Director. Jeremy Farrar, an Assistant Director-General, is also among the figures named in the election discussion.
Campaigning at regional sessions
Candidates must not use WHO regional committees’ official programmes for campaign activity. They will not get speaking time during official meetings to promote their campaigns, and any promotional events have to stay on the margins of those meetings.
The draft is meant to reinforce the parameters used in the previous election cycle, but it relies largely on good faith rather than legally binding enforcement. Member states are expected to weigh the recommendations next week at the World Health Assembly and the Executive Board, with January 2027 nominations set as the next fixed step in the process.
