He was engaged in a movement with Bernard Kouchner which resulted in the foundation of Médecins Sans Frontières, of which he was the first physician working in the field (1973, Burkina Faso).
With Jonathan Mann, with whom he was closely associated over a period of twelve years, he co-authored and co-edited a number of publications including two volumes of AIDS in the World, in 1992[2] and 1996,[3] respectively.
While Mann is the person most associated with the movement that seeks to integrate public health and human rights by conceptualizing them as interdependent, it is fair to say that in a less public manner Tarantola played (and continues to play) an equally key role in working to establish 'health and human rights' as integral to the on-the-ground work of IGOs, states, and NGOs.
Additionally during the latter part of this period, Daniel occupied the function of Director of the WHO Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals.
In 2005, upon retiring from the WHO, Daniel took up a professorship at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, leading a cross-Faculty research initiative on Health and Human Rights involving the Faculties of Medicine, Law and Arts and Social Sciences.