Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Health and human rights are inseparable.   @WHO remains committed to making the right to health a reality for everyone.

Damaging nature fuels disease, hunger,economic losses and climate shocks. Protecting biodiversity means healthier, safer and more resilient societies. As @UNBiodiversity COP17 unfolds, we call on countries to put health at the heart of biodiversity and biodiversity at the heart of health policy.

I commend President @TokayevKZ’s commitment to raising salaries for 77,000 health workers in #Kazakhstan, and for keeping people’s health and well-being at the heart of national policy. By investing in primary health care, empowering general practitioners and supporting health workers, Kazakhstan is demonstrating how political leadership can translate into better, more accessible health services for all. Nearly 50 years ago, Kazakhstan helped shape the global vision of Health for All through the Alma-Ata Declaration. As we approach its 50th anniversary in 2028, Kazakhstan continues to set an important example of turning that vision into action. Political commitment to health makes a difference. Thank you, Kazakhstan, for showing the way! en.tengrihealth.kz/tengri-he…

Amid conflict, #polio vaccination campaign for 11 million children has started in #Sudan. It aims to boost immunity among children with limited access to health services due to the conflict: bit.ly/4kob7T8 In 2026, Sudan has confirmed poliovirus in six children and in three wastewater samples. @WHO and @UNICEF are supporting the vaccination campaign, contributing to efforts to reach children across the country and strengthen the response to the polio outbreak.

Congratulations to my sister, Prime Minister @miaamormottley, and the government, health workers and communities of #Barbados on eliminating mother-to-child transmission of #HIV. A major achievement in protecting new generations of children from HIV. This is universal health coverage in action: free healthcare for every pregnant woman, regardless of nationality, with her rights and privacy respected. #HealthForAll

Half the people in Haiti are struggling to feed themselves and their families and it’s expected to get worse. @pahowho is supporting the country efforts to prevent and treat medical complications in severely malnourished children. But the needs are much larger. We call for urgent humanitarian access and donor support to scale up the response. No one should have to live in hunger. Above all, what the people of Haiti need is peace. xitter.gq/theIPCinfo/status/2115…

Ten years ago, the @LancetCountdown began tracking the impact of climate change on health, and the world’s response. It shows where harm is greatest, how fast it is growing, and where action can make the greatest difference. That evidence is vital to @WHO’s work to turn science into policy and action. The science is clear: the climate crisis is a health crisis. The solutions are within reach. What is missing is political will, investment and action at scale. xitter.gq/LancetCountdown/status…

Congratulations, my friend Mark Dybul, on your appointment as Executive Director of the @GlobalFund. Welcome back! My congratulations also go to former Prime Minister @erna_solberg, the new Board Chair, and Javier Hourcade Bellocq, the new Vice Chair. @WHO colleagues and I look forward to continuing our strong partnership towards a healthier, safer and fairer world. xitter.gq/GlobalFund/status/2115…

We came to Madrid this week as partners in the World Summit on Obesity, to talk about health, and how we can help people everywhere live longer, fuller lives. This morning, that purpose tragically overshadowed by a terrible train accident south of this city that has taken many lives. The situation is still unfolding. But we already know that many families across Spain are anxiously awaiting to hear about their loved ones. Mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, spouses, friends and colleagues, who set out on an ordinary journey and did not come home. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Health of Spain were meant to be with us today. Their place, rightly, is with the people of Spain, leading the response to this tragedy. Our thoughts are with them, and with everyone working at this very moment to help those affected. It would not *have been* right for us to carry on as though this were an ordinary day. Out of respect for those who have died, for their families, and for the Government and people of Spain, we decided to cancel today’s formal event. To everyone who has lost someone they love this morning: our hearts are with you. We grieve with you, and we will hold you in our thoughts in the days ahead. Spain has welcomed us with such warmth and generosity. Today, we want to offer that same warmth in return. On this dark day, we stand with you.

As we mark the first African Medicines Agency (AMA) Week, I urge all remaining countries to ratify its treaty, and Member States and partners to provide sustained political and financial support. A strong AMA means faster access to safe, effective and quality-assured health products, and stronger African health security. @WHO remains committed to supporting AMA and building a healthier, safer and fairer Africa.

More than 10,000 people been infected and reported with #Ebola in the #DRC, and, sadly, close to half have died. In some families, more than one life has been lost. The devastation is immense. It remains clear that the government-led and partner supported response must continue to scale up and out across all affected areas as well as those at risk. But there are encouraging signs of progress: -Close to 2700 people have recovered so far and over 1000 are currently receiving clinical care; -Science, collaboration and communities are offering new vaccine and treatment candidates to prevent and treat Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus. @WHO is working with partners on several clinical trials currently underway; -Capacity to provide optimised clinical care to Ebola patients by protected health workers has expanded to over 2100 beds across 109 Ebola transit and treatment centres; -Engagement of private health service providers, traditional healers and community leaders into the response is opening up new opportunities to detect patients early; -With the outbreak spreading to hard to reach and conflict affected areas, we are expanding our operations through rapid response teams who can reach communities where they are. These efforts and progress give us more than hope, the outbreak can and will be brought under control and ended. We call for continued global solidarity and support to sustain the response. We will not let up.

My first mission as @WHO Director-General in 2017 was to #Yemen, where I said that the only solution was a political one. Nine years on, that remains the case in Yemen and in so many other trouble spots across the @WHOEMRO Eastern Mediterranean Region. There can be no health without peace.

My heartfelt condolences to everyone who lost a loved one in this tragedy. A heartbreaking day for #Spain. Out of respect and to focus on supporting the families of the victims, we have decided to cancel today’s events at the Global Obesity Summit in Madrid. xitter.gq/sanchezcastejon/status…