Scaling up community health workers and health system capacity must be a fundamental component of our efforts to achieve universal health coverage, which will be my topmost priority if elected as Director-General.
— Tedros Adhanom
I think any position in any international organization should be merit-based.
I think the world should unite and focus on strong health systems to prepare the whole world to prevent epidemics - or if there is an outbreak, to manage it quickly - because viruses don't respect borders, and they don't need visas.
Ensuring investment in health systems will not only help us manage HIV/AIDS, it will also support our efforts to prevent and treat other communicable and noncommunicable diseases as well as prevent and respond to future health emergencies.
Our biggest achievement was health-sector reform. The success was in making sure that primary health care was the center of gravity in our health system.
The global commitment for the Sustainable Development Goals offers a profound opportunity to tackle the structural, social, and economic changes needed to end AIDS.
Expanding health coverage is not a technical issue but a political one; it should be seen as a right and a means to development.
