Seed CEO Dr. Vanessa Kerry Appointed WHO Special Envoy for Health Resilience
Seed Global Health welcomes the World Health Organization’s (WHO) appointment of our CEO, Dr. Vanessa Kerry, as the Director-General’s Special Envoy for Health Resilience.
Building on her previous role as Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health, Dr. Kerry will help advance WHO’s efforts to strengthen resilient, integrated, and sustainably financed health systems that can respond to everyday health needs while withstanding emerging threats, from climate change and disease outbreaks to financing shocks.
Announcing the appointment, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “This appointment reflects the natural evolution of Dr Kerry’s work with WHO. Her leadership in elevating climate change as a critical health issue has helped build momentum for stronger and more resilient health systems.”
He continued, “As Special Envoy for Health Resilience, Dr Kerry will help advance WHO’s efforts to ensure countries have the financing, partnerships and integrated approaches needed to withstand current and future challenges.”
The appointment comes at a pivotal moment for global health, as governments and global institutions rethink how health systems should be financed and strengthened in an era of increasing climate, economic, and health shocks. It reflects growing recognition that resilient health systems depend on sustained investment in health workers, stronger national institutions, and long-term partnerships with governments, including the transition from fragmented approaches toward more coherent, country-led health systems within an evolving global health architecture.
These are the same principles that have guided Seed’s work for nearly 15 years: investing in health workers, strengthening national institutions, and partnering with governments to build health systems that continue delivering high-quality care for generations.
“I am honoured to continue my partnership with WHO in this new capacity,” said Dr. Kerry. “Resilience is not a singular program – it’s the foundation a health system needs to function every day, and to hold when the pressure comes, whether that’s the slow strain of a changing climate or the sudden shock of a funding cut or a pandemic. You can’t build that foundation crisis by crisis. It must be built over time – by investing in the necessary workforce, financing and infrastructure, owned and sustained by a country for itself. I look forward to working with WHO and partners towards this shared mission.”
Dr. Kerry will work with WHO, governments, and its partners to advance practical approaches that strengthen health resilience through country-led investment in health systems. She will continue in her role as CEO of Seed Global Health.
