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?

Maria Neira was a doctor for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as the genocide in Rwanda began. Now she is a WHO insider, serving as its Director of Public Health, Environment and Social Determinants. And she knows public health from the government side; she was vice-minister of health in her native Spain from 2002 until 2005. She’s a passionate advocate for the WHO, telling us “it is one of the most powerful and beautiful ideas ever created by humanity.” She remembers that when she was a medical student, WHO advice was seen as a gold standard.

Today, amid funding cuts and widespread disinformation, she says “we need to be very strategic, to rebuild credibility and trust.” But she’s convinced she can inspire member states to rededicate themselves to the WHO, “through healthcare we can change the world. Imagine if we put in place prevention strategies: people will be healthy, their economies will be better.“