WHO what why how when
- 82newsbulletin
- Sep 22, 2020
- 3 min read
Written by Vienna Chan
Even though the WHO’s record on covid-19 is not perfect, it had long warned of the possibility of a pandemic on such a scale. In 2018 it talked about “Disease X”, an illness caused by a pathogen never seen before in humans that would cause the next pandemic and wreak havoc. Dr Tedros, the head of WHO, set up a new division to prepare for the possibility. Many countries did not listen. Then it happened.
Aside from some criticism on the speed of response, the WHO has helped immensely in coordinating global efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. It has rushed to digest research in order to give the public accurate information. It also mediates the covax programme, a plan to distribute 2bn doses of a covid-19 vaccine in 2021. Behind the scenes WHO evaluates and reflects to member-states on gaps in their measures. But overall, Mara Pillinger says the WHO has done a “pretty remarkable job” of coping with covid-19, given the constraints built into the way it works — what are these constraints that it
The WHO is governed by a legal framework known as the International Health Regulations. They set the rules for general practice that nations should follow, including reporting outbreaks of diseases as soon as they can. Ordinarily the job of the who is to identify the best public-health measures, share that information and offer technical support to members that need it. It is the platform where countries cooperate on matters of health. However, UN bodies work by consensus. The head of the WHO cannot openly criticise countries and it has no way of compelling countries to follow the regulations. The practical work of public health is not its job, but it will step in when needed and accepted. It has provided mental-health services in Syria, airlifted ambulances into Iraq and played a leading role in containing the outbreak of Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018.
Last month officials in the German and French health ministries circulated a paper saying the agency is severely underfunded, chronically over-mandated by member-states, and weak by design. A full independent evaluation of the agency’s response to the pandemic as well as that of individual countries is underway.
Money is the most immediate problem. The who’s budget is a piddling $2.5bn a year (roughly what America spends on health care for a typical small city). Its work is made harder because only 20% of its $2.5bn in funding is guaranteed and comes without strings. Much of that comes from a small number of large donors. Dr Tedros argues that it is too reliant on a single source of income, namely America.
Since 2017, Dr Tedros has tried to secure the agency’s finances. He set up the WHO Foundation to create a more reliable source of money. He is trying to persuade member-states to give more unconditional funding. He set up a WHO Academy to support the training of health workers around the world. He established the role of chief scientist. He has reached out to the private sector. The agenda is looking into working with the food industry as well as big tech firms on digital health technologies.
The possibility of the organisation’s main donor bunking out has made other countries realise that they should do more to bolster it. An internal panel is looking at reforms to the International Health Regulations. The who may need the power to investigate outbreaks more independently and to establish a system so that it can issue warnings about public-health emergencies earlier. A year ago the risks of a weak global health system were hard to calculate. Today the costs of Covid-19 are estimated to be in trillions of dollars and the loss of around 900,000 lives.
Click Below for Further Reading!
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this website are solely owned by the author of each article and does not represent the views of the Awareness Committee or the Editorial team.
Comments