Riyadh – September 15, 2026 -- Dr Hanan H. Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, has launched her candidacy for WHO Director-General after being nominated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, pledging to build "a WHO the world can count on."
Saudi Arabia backs a 30-year public health veteran for WHO's top post
Dr Balkhy, trained in Saudi Arabia and the United States, has spent more than three decades in clinical medicine, academic research and international public health leadership. She currently oversees WHO operations across 22 Member States and more than 750 million people as Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, and previously served as WHO's first Assistant Director-General for Antimicrobial Resistance and as a member of the Organization's Global Policy Group.
Her record includes mobilising over $1.6 billion for polio and emergency response
Dr Balkhy's platform rests on three priorities: Trust, through scientific authority, accountability and institutional independence; Impact, through faster emergency response and stronger country preparedness; and Value, through measurable progress on universal health coverage and country-level capacity. She was an early responder to MERS-CoV, helping build Saudi Arabia's national infection prevention programme and leading the country's first Phase I clinical vaccine trial.
Saudi Health Minister backs candidacy as WHO enters Pandemic Agreement implementation phase
Saudi Arabia's Minister of Health, H.E. Fahad Abdulrahman AlJalajel, said Dr Balkhy "brings the fresh thinking, proven leadership, and record of results that this moment demands." The candidacy arrives as WHO shifts from negotiating to implementing its Pandemic Agreement, works to broaden its financing base, and faces mounting pressure from Member States for greater country ownership of health priorities.
Balkhy begins global outreach ahead of UNGA and Washington engagements
Dr Balkhy has started a series of international visits with government officials, health leaders and frontline practitioners, recently attending WHO Regional Committee meetings for Africa in Ethiopia and for Southeast Asia in Timor-Leste. She is scheduled to attend the UN General Assembly and hold engagements in Washington, D.C. later this month.