He was totally unknown to the general public two years ago. It is now the global face of the fight against Covid-19. The Ethiopian boss of the WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus, spends this Tuesday, January 25 his great oral before the executive council of the organization, with a view to his probable re-election, next May. He is also the only candidate. A very media-friendly candidate who attracts as much light as critics.
With our correspondent in Geneva, Jeremy Lanche
” It’s been two or three months since I received attacks. They insult me, they call me a nigger. I even received death threats. Frankly, I don’t care. »
This outing of Dr. Tedros dates back to the beginnings of the pandemic. But it illustrates how the boss of the World Health Organization (WHO) was exposed very soon after the appearance of the Covid.
We then speak of his supposed complacency with regard to China. Donald Trump accuses the organization of being a puppet of Beijing.
Then Dr. Tedros must deal with the disbelief of certain States in the face of the pandemic, and soon, the monopolization of vaccines by the rich countries, that he denounces tirelessly for almost a year.
The French immunologist Michel Kazatchkine recognizes the convictions of the former Ethiopian Minister of Health. But he also wonders about his ability to reform the organization:
I found Tedros remarkable Minister of Health, a skilled negotiator, a very warm personality. But he is a politician; it often happened to him to address the press before addressing the Member States and finally to communicate a little with slogans
His past as a senior Ethiopian government official has caught up with him in recent months. Addis Ababa accuses him to support the rebels of Tigray, where he comes from, without providing any proof.
Not enough to destabilize the very media boss of the WHO, on track to lead the agency until 2027 now.