Speakers

Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge of Belgium embarked on his role as WHO Regional Director for Europe on February 1, 2020, shortly before COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. Since then, he and his team have led WHO’s response to this health emergency across 53 countries encompassing Europe and Central Asia.

Lessons learnt from the crisis, along with other key health priorities, are encapsulated in the WHO European Programme of Work, which reflects a dual track approach to health: Preparing better for mounting health emergencies even as countries strengthen essential health systems and services including for non-communicable diseases.

Having qualified in medicine, surgery and obstetrics, Dr Kluge’s extensive global experience includes seminal years with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Belgium amid health and humanitarian crises in Liberia and Somalia, as well as serving as the Moscow-based Regional TB Advisor for countries formerly part of the Soviet Union.

He joined WHO in 1999, first as TB/HIV Project Manager at WHO Russia, and then at WHO Myanmar as TB Medical Officer, eventually becoming Team Leader for the HIV, TB and malaria unit.

Dr Kluge moved to the WHO European Regional Office in 2009, and a year later was appointed Director of the Division of Health Systems and Public Health, as well as Special Representative of the Regional Director to Combat Multi/Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis.

In his current role, Dr Kluge advocates all the more strongly with governments and funders for health systems strengthening, prioritizing primary health care as a cornerstone of public health. “For me, universal health coverage is more than a slogan,” he says. “Strategic, practical investments, grounded in human rights and propelled by political will, can transform societies and countries – accelerating the achievement of health for all.”