Dr. Douglas Bettcher is Director of the Department for Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He has a multidisciplinary background and holds a PhD in International Relations and a Graduate Diploma in World Politics, both from the London School of Economics and Political Science; a Master’s of Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Alberta, Canada. He has international and country-level experience in tobacco control and prevention of noncommunicable diseases, and was WHO's principal focal point for providing Secretariat support for the negotiation of WHO's first treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Dr Bettcher’s current portfolio includes oversight for WHO’s work on NCD risk factor prevention (including tobacco use, diet and physical inactivity), prevention of childhood obesity, health promotion, and NCD risk factor surveillance. He is responsible for coordinating WHO’s work with the Secretariat to the WHO FCTC, and provides global leadership for the implementation of the prevention component of the Political Declaration of the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs. Finally, he has also worked in the areas of clinical medicine, public health and, international health policy in a number of countries, including Ethiopia and Jamaica.”
Dr Bettcher’s current portfolio includes oversight for WHO’s work on NCD risk factor prevention (including tobacco use, diet and physical inactivity), prevention of childhood obesity, health promotion, and NCD risk factor surveillance. He is responsible for coordinating WHO’s work with the Secretariat to the WHO FCTC, and provides global leadership for the implementation of the prevention component of the Political Declaration of the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs. Finally, he has also worked in the areas of clinical medicine, public health and, international health policy in a number of countries, including Ethiopia and Jamaica.”