UN's WHO would have picked Fidel Castro, but being dead isn't the greatest advertisement for socialized medicine. So it went with Mugabe, a terrorist and dictator.
Mr Mugabe's appointment as a "goodwill ambassador" to help tackle non-communicable diseases has attracted a chorus of criticism.
Does Mugabe count as a communicable or non-communicable disease?
Zimbabwe's leader has been frequently taken to task over human rights abuses by the European Union and the US.
Critics say Zimbabwe's health care system has collapsed, with staff often going without pay while medicines are in short supply.
A racist dictator in charge of a failed medical system? How better to represent the reality of socialized medicine. It was either Mugabe or Obama.
The WHO head said he was "rethinking his approach in light of WHO values".
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had previously praised Zimbabwe for its commitment to public health.
He said it was a country that "places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide health care to all".
And it does. Everyone gets the same health care. None.
HRW's Kenneth Roth said Mr Mugabe's appointment was a cause for concern because the president and some of his officials travel abroad for treatment.
Well of course they do. Everyone gets the same health care. Except the goodwill ambassador. You don't want him to die in his own hospitals, do you?
Dr Tedros, who is Ethiopian, is the first African to lead the WHO. He was elected in May with a mandate to tackle perceived politicisation in the organisation.
Mission accomplished.