Dr Kökény, a Hungarian citizen was trained for medicine, cardiology, health care management and political sciences. Having worked in various government positions, he served as minister for health twice (1996-98, 2003-4).  His international activities cover a broad field of health promotion, environment and health and health care reforms. He assisted WHO as a consultant in various fields, and was a member (2008-2011) and the chairman (2010-2011) of the Executive Board of the organization. He has worked as a senior fellow of the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva for 10 years, and contributed to global health diplomacy education and research. He is also a lecturer at the University of Debrecen, Faculty of Medicine in Hungary (on global health and health policy).