At least five candidates are in the running to become the next director-general of the World Health Organization, a contest one public health law expert called "the most consequential DG election in modern WHO history." The successor to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is scheduled to take office on Aug. 16, 2027, after a nomination period that closed Thursday. The agency is operating without its largest funder, the United States, and amid a broader contraction in international global health spending, leaving unresolved questions about how the WHO will function and whether it can draw Washington back into closer engagement. The WHO has not yet released an official list of candidates; it says that will happen after regional meetings conclude in early November.
Known candidates include Hanan Mohammed Al-Kuwari, Qatar's former public health minister; Hanan Balkhy, WHO's Eastern Mediterranean regional director; Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO's European regional director; Maria P. Neira, a late entrant nominated by Spain who leads WHO's environment, climate change, and migration division; and Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesia's health minister and former banker. If Sadikin wins, he would be the first director-general without a medical degree or an advanced degree.
Experts broadly agree on the stakes. Lawrence Gostin of Georgetown University said the organization is more vulnerable and in a more perilous position than at any time in the past 25 years. Thomas Bollyky of the Council on Foreign Relations was not surprised by the size of the field but had expected more geographic diversity. Suerie Moon of the Geneva Graduate Institute said the geographic distribution makes unified regional voting unlikely.
Where experts differ is momentum. Bollyky said he does not believe there is a current frontrunner, while Gostin said there is a groundswell of support for Budi, arguing the WHO needs a "technically excellent person" and that a corporate and economic technocrat from the global south could be attractive to member countries.