I speak often about my personal experiences with malaria in the field as a young public health officer because it had such a profound impact on my life and my work.
Over the years, I have worked on programs in Africa and around the globe to combat malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV. I have been witness to incredible progress in these fights.
The monetary impacts of malaria from the household to the global level are significant. Malaria tends to strike during harvest season, rendering families too sick and too weak to perform the work necessary to earn a living. Malaria-stricken families spend an average of over a quarter of their income on malaria treatment.
The Ministry of Health started by restructuring Ethiopia's previously male-dominated health system with women at the center.
We are convinced that universal health coverage, with strong primary care and essential financial protection, is the key to achieving the ambitious health targets of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and to avoiding impoverishment from exorbitant out-of-pocket health expenses.
I promise I will get up every day, determined to make a difference... I am ready to serve.
Early in my career, I was galvanized by a disease that ravaged my country and many others around the world: malaria.
Vaccination and other essential preventive services must be delivered close within communities.
Jihadist organizations attempt to exploit discontent among marginalized groups in unstable societies.
Women are the key to successful development and ongoing progress. In the workforce, their ingenuity, determination, and hard work help our economies thrive. In the government, they offer valuable perspective that can inform policy and remove barriers.
Education gives girls the knowledge, experience, and confidence to play their rightful role in society.
Expanding health coverage is not a technical issue but a political one; it should be seen as a right and a means to development.
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.
I think any position in any international organization should be merit-based.
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.
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.
While WHO has never had a director from Africa, no one should elect me because I am from Africa.
During World Immunization Week, we must celebrate our shared results and redouble our efforts to improve the health and lives of people everywhere.
New malaria cases fell by 21 percent between 2010 and 2015 worldwide, and malaria death rates fell by 29 percent in the same period. Yet, though malaria is preventable and treatable, it is still claiming too many lives around the world.
Defeating malaria is absolutely critical to ending poverty, improving the health of millions, and enabling future generations to reach their full potential.
