I don't think you can find anybody as qualified, as experienced, as wise, as clear about what
this job needs as Tedros.
Dr. Tedros has a lot of experience in reforming and transforming the health services in his
country and improve the health indicators, fight dramatically with scarce resources but
with the right policy, resolve and passion.
This wide experience means that he is very suitable to meet WHO at this point in time,
when WHO needs reforms, when he's facing new challenges and he has to turn those challenges
into opportunity.
The challenge that we face, especially after the Ebola epidemic, is creating kind of consensus.
I don't see that as a problem actually, I see it as opportunity.
It means those who have reached a consensus can give their hand to make that change happen.
Africa is part of the global family.
So whatever activities the global family undertakes, Africa is part of it.
And so if Africa has a good candidate to give to the global community, why not?
Yes, it is time for Africa to take more and more of a share in these global positions
of responsibility, but more importantly for Africa, we have the right candidate.
Africa has an opportunity now to give its best to run this organization.
So it's important to not think just because Africans were entitled.
He's qualified, he's hardworking, he has experience, he's been in the global health
for many, many years, and under him, Ethiopia transformed completely its health architecture.
Africa is competing, but Africa has equipped itself with the right tools to compete.
We think we can win, we believe we will win this one.
The world has already committed to the sustainable development goals.
In the sustainable development goals, we have commitment to achieving inverse analysis coverage.
That has to be number one priority.
It's the inequity in health services that's actually killing millions that otherwise should
not have died.
And we're losing millions of people in the whole world, which is really sad because we
have the means, we have the technology, we have the resources, but we're not saving them.
With the inverse health coverage, it's possible.
And by the way, health is a rights issue, a human rights issue, an end in itself.
And in addition to that, it's also a means to prosperity of countries and through that
prosperity of our globe.
It's very, very important that we invest on health because it has a huge dividend.
The other priority is emergency response.
You have seen how Ebola exposed our systems.
We have to invest in emergency response.
And there should be a political commitment to implement the international health regulation.
And for countries also to really work together to address pandemics and epidemics.
The surveys focus on women and girls.
Women and girls should be at the center.
They're the backbone of the society.
Investment in women and girls can actually propel health of the whole society.
So that's very important and we should put them at the center.
And number four is we should believe in partnership.
WHO cannot do everything alone.
It can focus on select core functions based on its comparative advantage.
And do the other health issues through others who have a better comparative advantage.
But lead the overall health agenda from front and center.
That way it can create synergy and have better outcome of health.
The other issue we need to focus is the finance problems of the WHO should also be addressed.
And WHO should really be the one that prioritized and based on its priorities also resource
and prepare the plan in a way that brings a better impact for the world.
Of course not alone through the partnership.
I know without a doubt that Tedros is the right man at this particular time to lead
the global community in terms of the World Health Organization.
And I think more importantly once we have Dr. Tedros as head of the World Health Organization
the world will see what a capable and hardworking African can do for the global health community.
We actually feel very very strongly as Africans that today more than at any other time in
our history we actually have candidates that we are proud of that we feel we can land to
the international community for a period of 10 years and then decide what we want to do
with him because I think you just keep growing.
