[13] His younger brother died at the age of three or four years, possibly of a preventable disease like measles, which Tedros often discusses as a defining personal experience in regards to the need for global healthcare.

[7][16][9] In 2000, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy in community health from the University of Nottingham for research on the effects of dams on malaria transmission in the Tigray region.

From 2008 until 2009, he was a member of the High Level Task Force on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems, co-chaired by Gordon Brown and Robert Zoellick.

[30] Recognising that early childrearing is a major factor in infant mortality, the Ministry of Health targeted its efforts on adolescent girls (15 to 19 years) who have the highest unmet need for family planning.

He was responsible for the organization of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) document in which the attending countries committed to financing for the Sustainable Development Goals.

[33] The Conference was criticized by a few observers for failing to come up with new money for implementing the SDGs[34] while a follow-up April 2016 report by the Economic and Social Council Forum was much more optimistic and provided the framework to monitor the commitments.

[35] Tedros served as a member of the High Level Task Force for innovative financing for Health Systems chaired by former World Bank President and U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

[36] As Chair of the Executive Council of the AU in 2014, Tedros highlighted the need for a paradigm shift in Africa's political and socio-economic governance and development to realize the continent's long-term agendas.

[citation needed] As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tedros played a pivotal leadership role in the Africa Union's response to the 2013–2016 Western African Ebola virus epidemic.

In an interview he conducted with Devex in November 2014, Tedros discusses what "disappointed" him in the global response to Ebola, the importance of solidarity in overcoming the outbreak, and how the deadly virus has transformed to a crisis beyond health.

[39][41] On 3 June 2013, while discussing the International Panel of Experts report with President Mohammad Morsi, Egyptian political leaders suggested methods to destroy the dam, including support for anti-government rebels.

[44] Morsi's top aide apologized for the "unintended embarrassment" and his cabinet released a statement promoting "good neighborliness, mutual respect and the pursuit of joint interests without either party harming the other."

During this period she was also Director of International Programmes at the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, a post she held since 2015 to advance women's health and reproductive rights globally.

The outbreaks were allegedly wrongly labelled as "acute watery diarrhea" (AWD)—a symptom of cholera—in the absence of laboratory confirmation of Vibrio cholerae in an attempt to play down the significance of the epidemics.

The allegations were made by Larry Gostin, an American law professor who was acting as an adviser to rival candidate David Nabarro from the UK, and were reported in The New York Times.

[68] Tedros's candidacy for WHO director general was opposed vigorously by several Ethiopian parties, due to his past membership of the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

[76][77] On 18 October 2017, Tedros announced that he had chosen President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to serve as a WHO Goodwill Ambassador to help tackle non-communicable diseases for Africa.

They accused him of pressurizing UN bodies so they would try to restrain the Government of Ethiopia's offensive on the TPLF, as well as seeking support from Egypt and East African nations for the group.

[86] Ethiopia's Chief of General Staff, Birhanu Jula Gelalcha, publicly accused Tedros of backing the group and trying to get weapons for them on 19 November 2020.

[90] In January 2020, Tedros met with Chinese leaders including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping about COVID-19.

"[104] On 8 April 2020, in response to President Donald Trump's threat to cut U.S. funding to the WHO, Tedros asked that the virus not be politicized and called for unity in fighting the "common enemy.

"[105] On 19 December 2020, during the height of the pandemic, the WHO, under Tedros's leadership, announced that it had secured 2 billion vaccine doses for distribution starting in 2021, once they had been approved by national agencies.

[108] Amid Taiwan’s successful early response to the pandemic in 2020, its bid to be included in the WHO gained international attention with strong support from the United States, Japan, Germany and Australia.

[112] Taiwan’s Justice Ministry investigators reportedly uncovered an effort by Chinese netizens to exploit the controversy by “falsely identifying themselves as Taiwanese and issuing apologies to Tedros online.”[118] Regarding the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tedros said that the attention given to the conflict was significantly larger than other crises in Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria or Afghanistan and said it seemed like this was a result of bias against non-white lives.

"[123] On 23 July 2022, Tedros declared the 2022 mpox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC),[124] despite 9 of the experts in the committee disagreeing with the call and only 6 in favour.

[127] In fact by 29 October he had been nominated by 28 nations: Austria, Bahrain, Barbados, Botswana, Cook Islands, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, Rwanda, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Tonga, and Trinidad and Tobago.

[128] Under Tedros "zero tolerance" policy against misconduct, doctor Takeshi Kasai was dismissed in 2023 from his role as the Western Pacific regional director, the first time in WHO's history for someone at such a high position.

An internal investigation had found Kasai to have engaged in public humiliation of staff members and making comments such as the "inferior culture" and "race" of Pacific countries that did not have the capacity to manage COVID-19 cases on their own.

Observers remarked that Tedros needs to enforce the policy more consistently, even in low profile cases such as reports of sexual abuse and exploitation during the 2018-2020 Kivu Ebola epidemic.

WHO needs $ 185 million to continue providing medicine and supporting hospitals to prevent more Afghan children and women from dying of malnutrition and the consequences of food insecurity.