Thomas Zeltner

Thomas Zeltner, former Secretary of Health of Switzerland and Director-General of the Swiss National Health Authority (1991-2009), has a long history as an innovative leader in public health. Currently he is head of international affairs of Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, board member of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, Vice-President of UNESCO commission of Switzerland and represents Switzerland on the board of the Global Network of Science Academies (iap Health). Since 1992, he has been Professor of Public Health at the University of Berne and is a Visiting Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health (Boston). He chairs the Advisory Board of the Global Health Programme at the Graduate Institute in Geneva and lectures health diplomacy there. Most recently he served as Special Envoy of the World Health Organization (2012-14). In this capacity he advised the Director General of WHO Margaret Chan in critical areas of the ongoing reform of this UN agency. As Secretary of State for Health, Zeltner regularly represented Switzerland at the World Health Assemblies (1991-2009). He was a member and Vice-President of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (1999-2002) and chaired many committees, such as the open ended intergovernmental group to review the working methods of the Executive Board (2001-03) and the committee on multinational tobacco companies and their attempt to undermine tobacco control activities of the World Health Organization (2000). As Director-General of the Federal Office of Public Health of Switzerland he was a key actor in Swiss health policy and has repeatedly been ranked among the 12 most influential political figures of Switzerland. He has presided over changes to transform the regulated market model of the Swiss health care sector into a more value and consumer driven health care system Thomas Zeltner is born in Bern (Switzerland). He graduated with an MD and a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Bern. He is a 2010 Fellow of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative and Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) of the University of Neuchatel.