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World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is an Ethiopian politician and academic. 

He is considered to be an authority on matters related to public health and has been serving as the chief of the WHO since 2017.

Before assuming his current role in the WHO, Ghebreyesus served as Ethiopia’s health minister from 2005 to 2012 and foreign minister from 2012 to 2016.

King Salman received Ghebreyesus at his palace in Riyadh on Sunday.

The meeting reviewed ways to further increase cooperation between the Kingdom and the WHO. The World Health Assembly elected  as the director-general of the WHO on May 23, 2017.

A graduate of the Eritrea’s University of Asmara, he is globally known for his brilliant work as a malaria researcher. 

As Ethiopia’s health minister, the academic-turned-politician introduced sweeping reforms in the country’s health sector to benefit the masses. As health minister, he is credited with building 4,000 health centers and deployment of 30,000 health extension workers to improve the health sector.  

During his tenure at the Health Ministry, Ethiopia became the first country to sign a compact with the International Health Partnership. 

It was due to his efforts as health minister that Ethiopia recorded a decline in the number of new HIV infections in Africa. 

He was appointed foreign minister of Ethiopia in 2012. In his new role, Ghebreyesus once again proved to be instrumental in promoting the interests of his country abroad and at key global forums. 

In 2012, he was named by the UK Wired Magazine as one of the 50 people who will change the world.