Geneva, Switzerland: Prof. Mohammed Janabi has presented seven priorities that he has put forward to the Health Ministers from the member countries of the World Health Organization in Africa and requested their approval to appoint him as the Director-General of the World Health Organization for the Region.
Prof. Janabi presented these priorities on May 18, 2025 while campaigning before the Ministers and promised that if elected, he will oversee the improvement of health services and place more emphasis on improving health services at the primary level.
“If elected, I promise to oversee the improvement of health services for all in order to achieve sustainable development goals,” said Prof. Janabi
He said that more efforts are still needed to achieve that goal because so far only 46 percent have access to quality health services in Africa while the global target is to reach 68 percent by 2030.
Prof. Janabi said that he will oversee the availability of financial resources to facilitate access to quality health services.
The third priority he has identified is to continue to oversee the preparedness of member states in responding to disasters and health emergencies.
Prof. Janabi has also emphasized on improving maternal and child health services as well as nutrition. He noted that the African continent contributes to 70 percent of maternal deaths and 56 percent of infant deaths in the world.
The fifth priority has noted that he will continue to place greater emphasis on combating infectious diseases including AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Non-communicable Diseases as well as neglected diseases, noting that the diseases facing us in Africa contribute to the economic decline of the African continent.
Sixth, he has noted that he will oversee efforts to combat the challenge of drug resistance of parasites against HIV.
“There are more than 1.2 million deaths that occur in the world every year due to HIV, yet 40 percent of African countries do not have systems for managing and controlling the growth of this epidemic,” said Prof. Janabi.
Prof. Janabi concluded with the seventh priority by noting that he will strengthen the production of health products including medicines, medical equipment and supplies as well as vaccines within the African continent.
Prof. Janabi said it is important for WHO African member states to unite together in addressing the challenges of access to health services, research and development of the Health Sector on the African continent.
