The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced seven candidates proposed by Member States for the position of Director-General. The selection process will begin with a candidates’ forum at WHO Headquarters in Geneva on 18–19 November 2026.
The candidates are Dr Hanan Mohammed Al-Kuwari (Qatar), Dr Hanan Balkhy (Saudi Arabia), Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge (Belgium), Dr María P. Neira (Spain), Mr Budi Gunadi Sadikin (Indonesia), Dr Li Song (China) and Dr Gevorg Tamamyan (Botswana).
The candidates will engage with Member States and Associate Members on 18–19 November 2026 at the first candidates’ forum at WHO Headquarters in Geneva.
The next stage of the selection process will take place at the WHO Executive Board’s 160th session in early 2027. The Board will shortlist five candidates, who will subsequently be interviewed by its members. Following the interviews, the Executive Board will nominate up to three candidates for consideration by the World Health Assembly.
A second candidates’ forum, including those nominated by the Executive Board, will take place on 15 March 2027.
The final appointment will be made by the World Health Assembly at its 80th session in May 2027. The newly appointed WHO Director-General is scheduled to take office on 16 August 2027.
Candidates for the post of WHO Director-General
Dr Hanan Mohammed Al-Kuwari
Dr Al-Kuwari currently serves as Advisor to the Prime Minister for Public Health Affairs in the State of Qatar. She has held several prominent leadership positions and played a significant role in transforming the country’s healthcare sector. She previously served as Minister of Public Health (January 2016–November 2024) and Managing Director of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) (July 2007–November 2024).
She has also served on several national academic, scientific and healthcare governance boards since 2011. These include the Qatar University Board of Regents, where she has been a member; the Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar Joint Advisory Board, as Co-Chair; the Board of Governors of Sidra Medicine; and the Board of Directors of the Qatar Precision Health Institute.
At the global level, Dr Al-Kuwari has held several leadership roles with the World Health Organization (WHO). She served as Vice-Chair of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement from July 2025 to September 2026. She was also a member of the WHO Executive Board from May 2023 to May 2026, serving as its Chair from 2023 to 2024. In addition, she served as Chair of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Committee in 2024.
Dr Hanan Balkhy
Dr Balkhy has held several senior leadership positions at the World Health Organization (WHO). She has served as Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region since February 2024. Previously, she was Assistant Director-General for Antimicrobial Resistance (May 2019–January 2024). From December 2022 to January 2024, she also served as Acting Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Health Products and WHO Lead for the Diagnostics Pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator).
Dr Balkhy’s national leadership experience includes two decades of service at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia (1999–2019).
She served as Executive Director of Infection Prevention and Control from 2007 to 2019. She also served as Chair of the Infectious Diseases Department, which she founded, from 2009 to 2019.
In addition, she has held several advisory positions with the WHO and the United Nations, contributing to global health policy development and strengthening international health security.
Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge
Dr Kluge has served as WHO Regional Director for Europe since 2020. Prior to this, he was Director of the Division of Health Systems and Public Health and Special Representative on Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) at the WHO Regional Office for Europe (2009–2020).
He previously served as Medical Officer and Team Leader for HIV/AIDS, TBand Malaria at WHO Myanmar (2004–2009), and as TB and TB-HIV Project Manager at WHO Russian Federation (1999–2004).
Before joining WHO, Dr Kluge held several roles with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF):
- Regional TB Advisor for Former Soviet Union Countries, MSF International, Moscow, Russian Federation (1998–1999).
- Prison TB and MDR-TB Coordinator, MSF Belgium, Mariinsk, Siberia, Russian Federation (1996–1998).
- Medical Coordinator, MSF Belgium, Nimba, Liberia (1996).
- B Coordinator, MSF Belgium, Kismayo, Somalia (1995–1996).
Earlier in his career, he worked as a Family Doctor in Belgium (1994–1996), undertaking interim assignments.
Dr María P. Neira
Dr Neira served as Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health (previously the Department of Public Health, Environment and Social Determinants of Health) at the World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, from 2005 to 2025.
Prior to this, she served as Under-Secretary of Health and Consumer Affairs for the Government of Spain and President of the Spanish Food Safety Agency (2002–2005).
She previously held several leadership positions at WHO, including Director of Control, Prevention and Eradication, later renamed the Department of Neglected Tropical Diseases (1998–2002), and Coordinator of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control and Other Epidemic Diarrhoeal Diseases (1994–1998).
Earlier in her career, Dr Neira worked as a physician and public-health adviser with Italian Cooperation in Mozambique and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Rwanda (1989–1994). She also served as Medical Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Honduras (1987–1989).
Her early professional experience included clinical medicine and specialist training in Paris, France (1984–1987).
Mr Budi Gunadi Sadikin
Sadikin has served as Indonesia’s Minister of Health since December 2020. Previously, he was Vice Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (2019–2020) and Group CEO of MIND ID (2017–2019), where he led the country’s newly established state-owned mining holding company, integrating three of Indonesia’s largest publicly listed national mining companies.
He also served as President Director of PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk from 2013 to 2016.
Since 2026, he has served as Co-Chair of the Accra Reset High-Level Panel, an 18-member panel developing proposals to reform global health governance and financing.
He has been a Board Member of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, since 2024, representing South-East Asia and the Western Pacific on its Board. He also serves as Co-Chair of the TB Vaccine Accelerator Council, a position he has held since 2023 alongside Brazil’s Minister of Health.
Additional leadership positions mentioned in his curriculum vitae include:
- Commissioner, The Lancet Commission on Health System Performance Assessment (2026–present) Member, Strategic Advisory Board, Regionalized Vaccine Manufacturing Collaborative (2024–present)
- Co-Chair, UN High-Level Meeting on TB (Panel 1) (2023)
- Board member, Stop TB Partnership (2021-present)
- Executive Board, Global Coalition for Value in Healthcare (2021-2022)
- Chair, ASEAN Health Sector (2020-2022)
Dr Li Song
Dr Song has served as Secretary of the Secretariat of the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF) since September 2023.
Prior to joining the ACWF, Dr Song worked at China’s National Health Commission (formerly the Ministry of Health) from June 2002 to September 2023, serving as Director-General of the Department of Women and Children’s Health.
Dr Song served on the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts on Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition from 2020 to 2023. From 2023 to 2026, she also served on the WHO Mother and Newborn Information for Tracking Outcomes and Results (MoNITOR) Advisory Group.
She has organised or overseen more than 100 international cooperation projects involving WHO, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF, the World Bank and the Gates Foundation. Dr Song also contributed to the China–Africa Health Cooperation Framework.
As Co-Chair of the Lancet Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) Commission in China, she co-led an international panel of experts spanning public health, primary care, economics, epidemiology, statistics, policy and global health
In 2025, Dr Song proposed and led the establishment of the Global Digital Empowerment Center for Women’s Development and Cooperation.
Dr Gevorg Tamamyan
Dr Tamamyan has held several leadership positions in paediatric oncology, cancer research and global health organisations. He is currently President of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology – Asia Continental Branch (SIOP Asia) and the Pediatric Oncology East & Mediterranean (POEM) Group, positions he has held since 2024.
Since 2025, he has also served as Co-Chair of the St. Jude Global Alliance Regional Advisory Committee for the WHO European Region. His other leadership roles include President of the Board of the Institute of Cancer and Crisis (2022–present), Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of OncoDaily (2023–present), Chief Executive Officer of the Immune Oncology Research Institute (2022–present), and President of P53 Inc. (2023–present).
At Yerevan State Medical University, Dr Tamamyan has served as Chairman of the Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology since 2019 and as an Adviser to the Rector since 2017. He previously headed the Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia at Yeolyan Hematology and Oncology Center (2019–2024) and served as Adviser in Oncology to the Ministry of Health of Armenia (2018–2019).
