Press release
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On Sunday, the World Health Summit 2026 opens in Berlin with a special session featuring prospective candidates for the post of WHO Director-General. The session will mark the first joint presentation of prospective candidates in the current election process, offering an early opportunity to hear their visions and priorities for WHO and the wider global health architecture.
The prospective candidates participating are:
Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, proposed by Qatar
Dr. Hanan Balkhy, proposed by Saudi Arabia
Dr. María Neira, proposed by Spain
Budi Gunadi Sadikin, proposed by Indonesia
Gevorg Tamamyan, proposed by Botswana
The discussion will be chaired by Björn Kümmel, Co-Chair of the Task Force of the WHO-hosted Joint Process on global health architecture reform.
The session comes during the ongoing process to select WHO’s next Director-General. The current Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will conclude his second term in 2027. The next Director-General will be appointed by WHO Member States at the World Health Assembly in May 2027. A full list of all prospective candidates that have been publicly announced can be found here.
“There is considerable attention on the election of the next WHO Director-General, and rightly so. The election will be important for multilateral cooperation, for the future direction of WHO and for its ability to deliver on its mandate in an increasingly complex global health environment. This session offers an early opportunity to hear directly from prospective candidates about their priorities and where they want to lead the organization,” says Axel R. Pries, President of the World Health Summit.
The Future of WHO and the Global Health Architecture: In Conversation with Prospective Candidates for the Post of the WHO Director-General
Sunday, October 11 | 12:45–13:45 CEST / 10:45–11:45 UTC
Location: Hall 1, World Health Summit 2026, Berlin
Participation: On-site and via livestream
About the World Health Summit
The World Health Summit is the leading global platform bringing together science, politics, civil society, and the private sector to catalyze collaborative and innovative solutions for key health priorities.
Its flagship event is the World Health Summit (WHS) held annually in Berlin, attracting more than 4,000 participants on-site and 40,000 online. In addition, each year, a WHS Regional Meeting is hosted in a different part of the world to connect regional perspectives with global strategies. Year-round formats such as the WHS Global Health Dialogues bring together leaders and decision-makers to address strategic issues. Drawing on the expertise of its WHS Academic Alliance, a global network of leading scientific institutions, the WHS connects the scientific community to inform global health agenda.
The World Health Summit is organized by the WHS Foundation GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and was founded in 2009 on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Charité. President of the World Health Summit is Prof. Dr. Axel R. Pries.
Press Contact
World Health Summit
Communications Team
Email: communications@worldhealthsummit.org
Web: www.worldhealthsummit.org