WHO candidate Hanan Balkhy: ‘The bottom line is that the funding is slimmer’

Send us Fan Mail Inside Geneva has partnered with the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute to bring you exclusive interviews with the candidates for director general of the World Health Organization (WHO). Who wants to lead our top public health body? Hanan Balkhy is currently regional director for the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean regional office, so she’s something of a WHO insider. A native of Saudi Arabia, she was educated in the United States and always wanted to be a doctor. Doing the WHO’s top job, she says, is a way “to serve the broader humanity.” She is especially concerned about antibiotic resistance, about the effects of climate change on health, and healthcare in conflict zones. She also warns about a “normalisation” of attacks on hospitals and healthcare workers. But she is also well aware that the WHO needs to reform and do more with less money. “The bottom line is that the funding is slimmer.” Listen to the full interview and subscribe to our Inside Geneva podcast. Get in touch! Email us at [email protected] Twitter: @ImogenFoulkes and @swissinfo_en Thank you for listening! If you like what we do, please leave a review or subscribe to our newsletter.  For more stories on the international Geneva please visit www.swissinfo.ch/ Host: Imogen Foulkes Production assitant: Claire-Marie Germain Distribution: Sara Pasino Marketing: Xin Zhang