Anders Nordström (born 9 March 1960) is a
Swedish physician who served as
Acting
Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode.
Acting involves a broad range of sk ...
Director-General of the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
(WHO) from 22 May 2006 to 8 November 2006.
Career
Nordström trained as a physician at
Karolinska Institutet
The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally. ...
and has experience in the field of national and international
health policy
Health policy can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society".World Health Organization''Health Policy'' accessed 22 March 2011(archived 5 February 2011) According ...
and planning and strategic leadership. Nordström worked with the Swedish
Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
in
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
and the
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...
in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. He has also worked for the
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (, ) is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Sweden's official development assistance to developing coun ...
(Sida) for over 12 years, including 3 years in
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
.
In 2002, Nordström briefly served as the Interim Executive Director for the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Nordström became Assistant Director-General for General Management at WHO in July 2003 and, in May 2006, Acting Director-General on the death of
Lee Jong-wook. Later named WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Services, one of his main contributions was to advance policy for
manpower in health services, especially for low-income countries.
Nordström served as the Director General of
SIDA from January 2008 to May 2010. In May 2010, after the effects of the Swedish aid-budget decline due to the
2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, he was requested to resign because of the agency's financial difficulties.
Later, in April 2012,
Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson appointed Nordström as the declared "world's first Global Health Ambassador". On behalf of the Swedish Government he has the formal title as Ambassador and leads a team to oversee and strategically advise the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on a substantial global health portfolio.
In April 2015, after a tenure as Sweden's Ambassador for Global Health, Nordström was appointed back to WHO as the organisation's country representative to Sierra Leone for two year
In 2020, he was appointed to head the secretariat of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR), which is chaired by
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
and
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Ellen Eugenia Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa.
Sirleaf was born in Monrovia to a Gol ...
. Since 2022, he has been a member of the Commission for Universal Health convened by
Chatham House
The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...
and co-chaired by
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
and
Jakaya Kikwete
Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (born 7 October 1950) is a Tanzanian politician who was the List of Presidents of Tanzania, fourth president of Tanzania, in office from 2005 to 2015.
Prior to his election as president, he was the Ministry of Foreign Aff ...
.
Other activities
* Virchow Prize for Global Health, Member of the Council (since 2022)
Council
�Virchow Prize for Global Health.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordstrom, Anders
Swedish public health doctors
Swedish civil servants
1960 births
Living people
Swedish officials of the United Nations
World Health Organization directors-general
Karolinska Institute alumni