) is a Swiss doctor and politician. Zeltner has repeatedly been ranked among the 15 most influential political figures of Switzerland. Die Mächtigsten: Geballte Macht

Past

Zeltner graduated with an M.D. and an LL.M. (Masters in law) from the University of Bern. He specialized in human pathology

Pathology

Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....

 before becoming the head of Medical Services at the Bern University Hospital

Inselspital

The Inselspital , officially the Bern University Hospital, is the university hospital of Berne, Switzerland, and one of the country's leading hospitals....

. He held various faculty positions at the University of Bern and at the Harvard School of Public Health

Harvard School of Public Health

The Harvard School of Public Health is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Area of the Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Mission Hill, which is next to Harvard Medical School. HSPH is considered a significant school focusing on health in the...

.

Zeltner was a member and Vice-President of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...

 (WHO) (1999–2002). He chaired the committee to reform the governance rules of the WHO in 2002-4. He is the first author of the report on the attempts of multinational tobacco companies to undermine tobacco control activities of the World Health Organization (2000), which marks the beginning of the development of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is a treaty adopted by the 56th World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003. It became the first World Health Organization treaty adopted under article 19 of the WHO constitution. The treaty came into force on February 27, 2005...

 (2003).

As Director-General

In 1991, the Swiss Government appointed Zeltner as the 8th Director-General of the Swiss National Health Authority and Secretary of Health of Switzerland, a position he held until the end of 2009.

Under Zeltner's leadership, Switzerland developed national prevention programs to reduce the consumption of illicit drugs, which have received global attention. The pioneering harm-reduction policy of Switzerland with large-scale syringe

Syringe

A syringe is a simple pump consisting of a plunger that fits tightly in a tube. The plunger can be pulled and pushed along inside a cylindrical tube , allowing the syringe to take in and expel a liquid or gas through an orifice at the open end of the tube...

 exchange programs, and the medical prescription of heroin for chronic heroin addicts, are considered the most innovative worldwide.

Zeltner presided over changes to transform the regulated market model of the Swiss health care

Healthcare in Switzerland

Healthcare in Switzerland is universal and is regulated by the Federal Health Insurance Act of 1994 . Health insurance is compulsory for all persons residing in Switzerland...

 sector into a more value- and consumer-driven health care system. He has focused on making health care more transparent in quality and price; increasing consumer choices; and reducing the time and expense of bringing safe and effective innovations to the insured. The Swiss model, which guarantees access to a comprehensive benefit package of health services and goods to all residents, is gaining increased international interest, particularly in the U.S.

Current positions

Zeltner is Chairman of the Swiss Foundation of Science et Cité. He is Professor of Public Health at the University of Bern, a 2010 Advanced Leadership Initiative fellow at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, and Chairman of Dr. Thomas Zeltner Health Solutions Ltd. He is the former Secretary of State for Health and the Director-General of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health  (1991–2009).

Since 2010, Zeltner has been engaged in global health leadership development initiatives. He is co-founder of the Global Patient Safety Forum, which hosts the LEAD Healthcare Fellowship Program. He chairs the founding committee of the Geneva Programme on Global Health Diplomacy and Governance at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies is a highly selective postgraduate educational and research institute situated in Geneva, Switzerland...

 in Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, Switzerland.