The director general is elected by and answers to the World Health Assembly (WHA).

[1] The current director-general is Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was appointed on 1 July 2017,[2] and re-appointed on 24 May 2022.

[4] Candidates for Director-General can be proposed by Member States, then nominated by the executive board and appointed by the World Health Assembly.

If there are multiple candidates, the executive board of the World Health Organization — a panel of members from 34 member countries representing the various World Health Organization regions — interviews the nominees.

The Director-General is typically appointed in May, when the World Health Assembly meets.