Hans
KLUGE

Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge is WHO Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, now serving his second term. A Belgian national, he brings over 30 years of global experience in medicine and public health.

After qualifying in medicine and tropical medicine in Belgium, Dr Kluge began his career as a family doctor before joining Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). He worked in emergencies in Liberia and Somalia, coordinating Tuberculosis (TB) programme and delivering health services in conflict zones. He later managed MSF’s TB control programme in Siberian prisons and served as Regional TB Advisor for countries of the former Soviet Union.

He joined WHO in 1999, with posts in the Russian Federation and Myanmar, where he led programmes on HIV, TB and malaria, and advised on TB control in the DPR Korea and Thailand. In 2009, Dr Kluge moved to the WHO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia as Director of Country Policies and Systems Division. He later headed the Division of Health Systems and Public Health and took on the role of Special Representative on combatting multi/extensively drug-resistant TB.

Dr Kluge served as WHO Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia from 2020 to 2025, leading the Region through unprecedented public health crises, including COVID-19, mpox, war- and conflict-related emergencies and extreme weather events. Under his leadership, the European Programme of Work 2020–2025 achieved notable progress in vaccination, digital health, mental health and behavioural insights, laying stronger foundations for resilient health systems across the Region.

He is married and has two daughters. Dr Kluge speaks English, French, German, Russian and Dutch.