With Thursday’s 24 September deadline looming, international scientific societies and civil society leaders are pushing Spain to sponsor a last-minute nomination of Dr María Neira as candidate in the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General election.

Neira is WHO’s former Director for Environment, Climate Change and Health, and her nomination has been endorsed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Dr Carlos Ferreyra of Climate, Life and Health International. They have joined other civil society groups to petition Spanish ministers to register her candidacy before entries close.

“Dr Neira does not merely represent a highly competent nominee for Spain, but a truly decisive planetary asset,” said the Argentine-based Citizens’ Roundtable and Planetary Civil Society in a press release on Monday.

Despite earlier indications that Spanish authorities would pass on the current election cycle, Health Policy Watch understands that Madrid is deliberating the nomination.

At present, there are four official nominees: Belgium’s Hans Kluge, Saudi Arabia’s Hanan Balkhy, Qatar’s Hanan Al-Kuwari, and Indonesia’s Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

Neira declined to comment when reached by Health Policy Watch, while the Spanish government has not responded to official queries.

Campaign organisers said they received positive informal signals from Spanish officials. Nonetheless, Madrid faces internal diplomatic friction after launching competing international bids for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Climate experience drives potential nomination

Neira recently joined the Clean Air Fund as an inaugural Senior Fellow advising on atmospheric pollution, after leading WHO’s Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health from 2005 to 2025. During her two decades in Geneva, she spearheaded the global “One Health” approach connecting human, animal, and environmental health, while leading global cholera control initiatives.

She previously served as Spanish Vice Minister of Health and President of the Food Safety Agency, following earlier WHO work coordinating global cholera control. An epidemiologist and physician, Neira began her career managing Médecins Sans Frontières emergency operations in Central American conflict zones.

Advocates argue her nomination would expand the candidate field by introducing a recognized climate expert to address the defining health challenges of coming decades, exacerbated by extreme heatwaves and environmental crises.

Backed by an international coalition anchored in Latin America and spanning the Global South, indigenous groups, and Small Island Developing States, supporters contend her entry translates Spain’s 1986 universal health system legacy to the multilateral stage.

Neira calls for ‘scientifically fearless’ WHO

Outlining her leadership vision on LinkedIn earlier this month, Neira argued that WHO requires a “scientifically fearless” strategist rather than a mere administrator.

“The world does not need a personality to manage WHO. It needs a leader who can unleash its collective intelligence and lead global health,” she wrote, fuelling speculation about a potential bid.

She advocates for primary prevention, treating global health as a positive dividend of development across energy, technology, and urban planning.

With the nomination window closing on Thursday, a Spanish submission would ensure a dedicated climate advocate enters the final election contest. Whether Madrid registers her candidacy before the deadline will determine if environmental health takes centre stage in shaping global health governance.

See related story:

The Digital Campaigns Shaping Candidates’ Messages in Race for WHO Director-General

Image Credits: Alexandre P. Junior via Pexels, Felix Sassmannshausen/HPW.