Rüdiger Krech (born 9 June 1964) is a German

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

expert who currently works as a senior official at the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO). An advocate for

universal health coverage Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...

social determinants of health The social determinants of health (SDOH) are the economic and social conditions that influence individual and group differences in health status. They are the health promoting factors found in one's living and working conditions (such as the d ...

Health in All Policies Health in All Policies (HiAP) was a term first used in Europe during the Finnish presidency of the European Union (EU), in 2006, with the aim of collaborating across sectors to achieve common goals. It is a strategy to include health considerations ...

and

social protection Social protection, as defined by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, is concerned with preventing, managing, and overcoming situations that adversely affect people's well-being. Social protection consists of policies and p ...

, he is the Director of Health Promotion at WHO.

Life and career

Early career

Krech attended

Bielefeld University Bielefeld University (german: Universität Bielefeld) is a university in Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1969, it is one of the country's newer universities, and considers itself a "reform" university, following a different style of organization a ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

where he obtained his

Master of Public Health The Master of Public Health or Master of Philosophy in Public Health (M.P.H.), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.), International Masters for Healt ...

(MPH) and Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degrees. In 1992, he joined the WHO's Regional Office for Europe in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, where he held various positions in the areas of

ageing Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...

health promotion Health promotion is, as stated in the 1986 World Health Organization (WHO) Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, the "process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health." Scope The WHO's 1986 Ottawa Charter for Healt ...

, health policies and

health systems Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

. In 2003, he joined the

German Technical Cooperation German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

(GTZ) where he worked as the Head of the Social Protection Section and the director of the Social Security Program in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In 2005, together with colleagues from the WHO and the

International Labour Office The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...

, Krech formed the WHO-ILO-GTZ Consortium on Social Health Insurance, a collaborative effort to extend health protection coverage in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

. As a member of the German delegation in both the executive board of the WHO and the

World Health Assembly The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states. T ...

between 2004 and 2009, he was also a chief negotiator of the resolution on sustainable health financing, universal coverage and social health insurance, passed in 2005.

World Health Organization

In October 2009, Krech returned to the World Health Organization, this time working at their headquarters in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

as the Director for Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights, leading about 70 scientists and health professionals in developing innovative programs in those areas. In 2010, he was also appointed as a professor of global health at the

College of Europe The College of Europe (french: Collège d'Europe) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with its main campus in Bruges, Belgium and a second campus in Warsaw, Poland. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 by leading ...

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He was part of the organizing committee for the World Conference on the

Social Determinants of Health The social determinants of health (SDOH) are the economic and social conditions that influence individual and group differences in health status. They are the health promoting factors found in one's living and working conditions (such as the d ...

that took place in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

from 19–21 October 2011. The conference lead to the Rio Political Declaration, which was a commitment from member states to reduce

health inequality Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequiti ...

and promote development. In November 2013, he became the organization's Director for Universal Health Coverage and Health Systems at the office of the Assistant Director-General. He oversees its work in providing safe and effective medicines and health technologies, integrated people-centred health services, health financing and governance, health workforce, knowledge management, information, policy and research. In 2019, he was appointed as Director for Health Promotion at the World Health Organization. He oversees WHO‘s work on tobacco and alcohol control, physical activity, health law and fiscal policies for health, healthy settings, health literacy, community engagement and wellbeing.

Selected publications

* 2010: "Implications of the Adelaide Statement on Health in All Policies" (with N. Valentine, L. T. Reinders and D. Albrecht). ''

Bulletin of the World Health Organization The ''Bulletin of the World Health Organization'' is a monthly public health journal published by the World Health Organization that was established in 1947. Articles are published in English and abstracts are available in Arabic, Chinese, English ...

''; Volume 88, Number 10 * 2011: "Tuberculosis: Still a Social Disease" (with M. Raviglione). '' International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease''; Volume 15, Supplement 2 * 2011: "Action on Social Determinants of Health Is Essential to Tackle Non-Communicable Diseases" (with K. Rasanathan). ''Bulletin of the World Health Organization''; Volume 89, Number 10 * 2011: "Social Determinants of Health: Practical Solutions to Deal with a Well-Recognized Issue". ''Bulletin of the World Health Organization''; Volume 89, Number 10 * 2011: "Healthy Public Policies: Looking Ahead". ''Health Promotion International''; Volume 26, Supplement 2, pages 268–272 * 2013: "Health Workforce Brain Drain: From Denouncing the Challenge to Solving the Problem" (with G. Cometto, K. Tulenko and A. S. Muula). ''

PLOS Medicine ''PLOS Medicine'' (formerly styled ''PLoS Medicine'') is a peer-reviewed weekly medical journal covering the full spectrum of the medical sciences. It began operation on October 19, 2004, as the second journal of the Public Library of Science (PLO ...

''; Volume 10, Issue 9 * 2013: "Human resources for universal health coverage: from evidence to policy and action" (with M. Sales, M. P. Kieny and C. F. Etienne). ''Bulletin of the World Health Organization''; Volume 91, Number 11 * 2014: "Globale Gesundheitssteuerung und globale Steuerung für mehr Gesundheit". ''Gesundheits- und Sozialpolitik''; Volume 68, pages 10–13 * 2014: "The 2014 Ebola Outbreak: Ethical Use of Unregistered Interventions" (with M. P. Kieny). ''Bulletin of the World Health Organization''; Volume 92, Number 9

References

External links

Rüdiger Krech
profile at the

's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Krech, Rudiger 1964 births Living people German public health doctors World Health Organization officials German officials of the United Nations