We, the Executive Board members at the Ethiopian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ESOG) hereby endorse the candidacy of Dr. Tedros Adhanom unanimously for the post of Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). 

This endorsement was based on our expressed confidence in his outstanding ability, capacity and visionary leadership which were demonstrated while he was the Minister of Health and his current post as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Dr Tedros had introduced a number of health system reforms which significantly improved access to health services in general and that of the maternal, women and newborn health in particular.

Some of the most outstanding achievements were, among others, the training and deployment of over 38,000 Health Extension Workers (HEWs) who were instrumental to revolutionalize the primary health care delivery system.

Furthermore, it was under Dr. Tedros’s leadership that the scale up of the training of the health workforce and deployment strategy were made possible and become operational following which thousands of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technologists, integrated emergency officers and health officers were trained and deployed with improved working condition and level of motivation than ever before.

Following the introduction of the above mentioned and other measures, he had contributed to the significant decline of maternal mortality and morbidity and the newborn mortality. Moreover, he was instrumental in improving the family planning uptake, antenatal care coverage, skilled birth attendance and institutional delivery.

He had been supportive in his role at both ministerial offices for our Society activities as an important partner and had played a pivotal role and in the smooth organization and conduct of the first ever FIGO Africa conference in October 2013 without whom it would have been difficult to carry out such an important and big event.

Finally, if he is elected for this important global post, we believe he will continue to provide his strong leadership so as to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in health globally.

Sincerely,

Dereje Negussie, M.D/Obgyn, PgD-RM, MPH

President, ESOG