Hans Kluge, a respected Belgian doctor and international public health authority, is one of four candidates to lead the World Health Organisation (WHO) from August 2027.
Kluge was the director of the WHO’s European branch but stepped down from that role, as per the rules, when he was put forward by the Belgian government as a candidate to replace Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as director-general of the World Health Organisation when his term comes to an end.
Kluge studied medicine, surgery, and obstetrics at KU Leuven and continued his education at the Institute for Tropical Medicine. After a short stint as a general practitioner, he joined Doctors Without Borders, where he started to gain expertise in what would become his specialty: tuberculosis.
Hans Kluge has worked for the World Health Organisation since 1999 – first in Russia and Myanmar, before joining the European headquarters in 2009, becoming its regional director at the dawn of the Covid-19 pandemic and getting unanimously re-elected for a second term that started in 2025.
At the time of writing, he is one of four candidates, together with his colleague for the Eastern Mediterranean office Hanan Balkhy, former Qatari health minister Hanan Mohammed Al-Kuwari, and Indonesian health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
It is now up to Kluge and the other contenders to campaign for the position. A shortlist of up to three candidates will be made in January 2027, and a vote will follow in May.
