By Jenny Lei Ravelo

After a full day of closed-door sessions, the World Health Organization’s Executive Board at last announced its three director-general nominees set to face election in May. Ethiopia’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Pakistan’s Sania Nishtar, and Britain’s David Nabarro made the cut, with the results released in Geneva on Wednesday evening.

Tedros again took the lead with 30 votes, but Nishtar was close behind with a total of 28. Nabarro received 18 votes from the 34-member board.

The results came as something of a surprise within global health circles, who favored French candidate Philippe Douste-Blazy, along with Nabarro and Tedros. When the list was whittled down to five candidates on Tuesday, Italy’s Flavia Bustreo had come in second. The loss of both Europeans has led observers to predict that Nabarro’s campaign may see a boost in the coming months.

Image: A wide view of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board’s special session on the Ebola emergency. UN Photo/Christopher Black