The result of the secret vote was a formality since he was the only candidate.

Opening the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Dr Tedros, who has led the global response to the Covid pandemic, said coronavirus had turned the world upside down, leaving many still enduring suffering.

Fighting back tears as he spoke, he also called for an end to war, which he said "shakes and shatters the foundations on which previously stable societies stood".

He recalled his own first-hand experience as a child of war in Ethiopia, which is again experiencing civil conflict in its northern Tigray region, where he is originally from.

The 57-year-old has been at odds with Ethiopia's government after it accused him of supporting forces from Tigray - an accusation he has previously denied.

He had been Ethiopia’s health minister - during which he received praises for his efforts in controlling diseases like malaria and HIV/Aids - and a foreign minister before he was first elected to lead the WHO in 2017.