Dr João Breda, MPH PhD MBA
Head of the Athens Quality of Care Office & SPECIAL Representative
Dr João Breda is the Head of the WHO Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety in Athens, Officer in Charge of the WHO Country Office in Greece and Special l Adviser for the Regional Director. Before moving to Greece João has been posted in WHO Senior Positions in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Moscow (Russian Federation).
The WHO Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety in Athens (QoC Office) aims to improve quality of care and patient safety both at country level and across the WHO European Region, focusing on reducing inequalities while promoting health innovation and leadership. Dr Breda leads the QoC team since 2021 while supporting the Regional Director in setting-up new Projects particularly in Southern European Countries. These Initiatives are mainly focused on Quality of Care and Patient Safety as well as Public Health Leadership. The QoC Office has been engaging in a wide range of activities to promote and develop high-performing health systems across the Region. The Office has also reached out to a wider audience through 11 published reports, 21 draft studies, two evaluation tools, and 34 scientific publications to promote knowledge-sharing. The Office has also co-created, alongside the Ministry of Health of Greece, the Agency for Quality Assurance in Health (ODIPY) and the European Union’s (EU) Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support, the first-ever National Strategy for Quality of Care and Patient Safety 2025-2030 for Greece.
Dr Breda is the co-Director of the five editions of the WHO European Public Health Leadership Courses. He has also led the team to design and implement the First and Second WHO European Autumn School on Quality of Care and Patient Safety, held in Lisbon in October 2023 and 2024..
Until 2021, he was the Head of the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD Office). In 2019, the team he was leading was given an Award of Excellence announced by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, which acknowledges the exceptional contribution to the Organization, tangible gains, and achievements. Dr Breda went on to earn the same prestigious award once again in 2024, this time with his Athens team.
For eleven years Dr Breda was Programme Manager for Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of the European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015-2020 and the Physical Activity Strategy for the WHO European Region 2016-2025.
Dr Breda was also the recipient of the Gold Medal for outstanding services in the field of Health granted by the Portuguese Ministry of Health in 2018. He also received more than 20 scientific and academic awards. Dr Breda has published more than 300 original academic articles and reports, as well as more than 20 original books (including the best seller on infant nutrition in Portugal) and has more than 15 000 citations. He is also considered to be among the top 1% researchers on obesity, globally.
Dr Breda holds a PhD in Food Consumption & Nutritional Sciences from Porto University, a Master of Business Administration from the EU Business School in Barcelona, and a master’s in Public Health. He also holds a bachelor’s in Nutritional Sciences. A native Portuguese speaker, he is fluent in English and Spanish, with intermediate proficiency in French and basic knowledge of Russian.
Programming Partner: Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE) & EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations)
