Christos Christou is a Greek physician who is the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Christou is from Greece where he studied medicine before working as a doctor in the United Kingdom. He joined MSF and worked as a surgeon in Cameroon, Iraq, and South Sudan before becoming elected as the Vice President, then President of MSF Greece and later succeeding Joanne Liu as the International President of MSF international.

Early life

Christou was born in

Trikala Trikala () is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala (regional unit), Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios (Thessaly), Pineios. According to the Greek Natio ...

, Greece.

Education

Christou has a degree in medicine from

Aristotle University The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest Tertiary education, tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stagira (anc ...

, a Ph.D in surgery from the National and Kapodistrian University, and a Master's degree in International Health and Health Crisis Management from the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

Career

As an emergency surgery specialist, Christou worked at North Middlesex University Hospital and King’s College Hospital in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK. He joined MSF in 2002 as a volunteer surgeon, working on refugee health issues, and

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

and

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 ...

. He worked as the General Secretary, and then as the vice president before being elected as the president of MSF Greece in 2005. Christou was elected to be the international president of MSF in June 2019. Later in 2019, he wrote an open letter to

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

leaders advocating that they cease their policy of stopping the journey of

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A per ...

s in the Greek islands. In 2020, responding to an open letter from MSF staff about

institutional racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of institutional discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race or ethnic group and can include policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organizati ...

, he welcomed the critique, but also questioned how widespread racism was within MSF. He also criticized governments for failing to put in place efficient healthcare plans at the beginning of the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, especially in low income countries. In 2021, Christou spoke about the importance of addressing

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, criticized pharmaceutical companies for not sharing COVID-19 vaccine

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

, and spoke of increasing humanitarian needs in Afghanistan. In 2021, he was critical of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's management of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

{{Humanitarian Aid Médecins Sans Frontières Living people People from Trikala Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Year of birth missing (living people)