WHO must address its problems in spite of challenges, say experts
The World Health Organization (WHO) is in need of reform, say experts quoted in a May 7 Undark article. And achieving those reforms will be a big challenge—especially without the support of the U.S., which withdrew from the organization in January.
But it’s crucial that WHO improve so that the world continues to have a functional global health agency that can respond to disease outbreaks, coordinate treatments and vaccines, and propose public health measures, according to the experts.
WHO has been criticized in the past for its sometimes slow response to crises, such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in the mid-2010s and the COVID pandemic in 2020; for expanding its scope beyond what it can effectively handle; and for not having enough political independence.
Jesse Bump, lecturer on global health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, was among those quoted in the article. He noted that, during the COVID pandemic, WHO wasn’t able to ensure that vaccines got shared equitably around the world. It set targets but didn’t meet them, while rich countries horded vaccines for themselves. WHO was also criticized for not putting enough pressure on China for an independent investigation to determine how the COVID outbreak started.
But Bump and other experts also acknowledged the political difficulties faced by WHO, which must bring together 193 member states to agree on how to address global health concerns. Those member countries provide the organization’s funding, which can influence WHO priorities. Bump noted that if WHO says or does something that a country’s government doesn’t like, it can cut off access or funding. WHO, he said, is “like a shell-shocked bureaucracy, where they don’t have courage because they don’t have power, and they’ve been punished for using it.”
When WHO lost the U.S. as a member, it lost its biggest funder. Bump said that even though WHO is focused right now on shoring up its budget, he hopes that the agency will also focus on reforms. “There’s a lot of rudderless discussion without the U.S., even though it’s a tremendous opportunity to make progress,” he said.
Read the Undark article
Health Experts Say: Don’t Abandon WHO, Reform It
