Events
& Issues
New Delhi, 23 April 2020
Future Of WHO
CAUGHT IN POLITICS
By Dr S.Saraswathi
(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)
American President
Donald Trump has suspended American funding to the World Health Organization
(WHO) holding that, “WHO pushed China’s misinformation about the virus”. It is
reported that he said that “a review is being conducted to assess WHO’s role in
covering up the spread of the coronavirus”. A powerful thunderbolt has struck
this world body which has the reputation of working unaffected by international
politics.
WHO, which is
receiving bulk of its funds from the US is accused by this biggest donor for
mismanaging the crisis, by failure to vet information and sharing it in a
timely and transparent manner. This move came after China imposed restrictions
on publication of a research work on the origins of COVID-19. To the US
President, WHO seems to be “very China-centric” and failed to declare the
spread of the pandemic in time.
Republican law makers
in the US asked WHO to provide documents of all its communications with the
Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party regarding public health from
19 August 2019 and on the total number of infections and fatalities caused by
COVID-19 in China. They want American
funding to go to “organisations that uniformly serve the interests of nations
across the globe”. The remark conveys their strong suspicion about neutrality
of this international organisation.
USA is the biggest
donor to the WHO with its annual contribution of about $450 million which is
nearly one-quarter of the budget of the WHO. It is reported that the
organisation is reviewing the impact of any withdrawal of the US funding on its
work and that it would work to fill any gaps and ensure uninterrupted work.
Expressing “serious
concern” over suspension of funds to the WHO by the US, China has hinted at
enhancing its contribution which is about $45 million. This cannot make up for
the loss. Critics inside and outside
the US are of the opinion that it is not the right time to reduce funds to WHO
or any such body engaged in humanitarian work.
WHO was born in the
month of April 1948 and has completed 72 years. It is successor to the League
of Nations Health Organization. Establishing an organisation “to protect and
promote the health of the world’s people” was a priority item for the nations
that met in 1945 to form the United Nations Organization for world peace. The
constitution of the WHO says that, “the enjoyment of highest attainable
standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being
without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition”. 1948 was also the year of Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
Besides fighting
COVID-19, WHO is also engaged in eradicating polio, measles, Ebola, HIV,
tuberculosis, cancer, diabetic, mental disorders, etc. Even diseases that have
been eradicated need constant watch to prevent their return. It is working with
countries to strengthen their health systems and to improve access to
life-saving health services.
The war against
COVID-19 requires the united power and efforts of all countries. Without that,
every country, rich and poor, will be in trouble. Whether the spread of the
virus can be regulated or directed by human efforts is not known. WHO has
initiated the global Solidarity Trial to find at the earliest effective drugs
to treat COVID-19.
Worldwide COVID-19
cases exceed 24 lakh. USA has registered the largest number with over 7 lakh.
Spain is reaching 2 lakh cases followed closely by Italy. France and Germany
have around 1.5 lakh cases each and UK 1.2 lakh. India with less than 18,000
cases is in a far better position presently, but pandemics pick up speed very
quickly. A total of 185 countries/regions are hit, and about 1.6 lakh have
died.
China locked down the
city of Wuhan on 23 January and WHO Director-General warned that while the
emergency was for China and not for the world, the virus had the potential to
spread global. Differences among experts regarding the scale of threat from the
virus persisted for long, but only by the end of January, a global emergency
was declared. America, however, took much longer time to perceive the danger
and declare a national emergency over coronavirus on 13 March.
To put the WHO in a
financial crisis when its expertise and services are most needed is an
unthinkable calamity. The organisation has several achievements like smallpox
and polio eradication, vaccination for yellow fever, and mental health
services. It has assumed global governance of health and disease stemming from
its functions of establishing, monitoring and enforcing international norms and
standards and coordinating the work of multiple actors towards a common goal.
Of all the agencies of the UNO, the WHO can and must remain free of politics as
health and diseases are not bound by international borders. This belief is now
becoming false.
Globalisation offers
opportunities as well as challenges for promotion of health and control of
diseases. It has accelerated the spread of contagious diseases. Exchange of medical knowledge, health
practices, and treatment techniques are necessary for medical advancement which
undoubtedly has made great progress in the modern world.
Global team work is
needed particularly in health and disease control in view of increasing global
travel, trade, communication and contacts which contribute to globalisation of
diseases. Information, ideas, rights and obligations transcend national borders
and cover humanity in general and even extend to animal and plant world.
Public health is no
longer a local matter, but is actually stretching as a global interest. A new
global health era is taking shape which will see global cooperation and
coordination of efforts, pooling of material and human resources, and
accumulation and dissemination of knowledge and information. International
management of health and disease is possible only if we establish and enforce
global norms and standards.
COVID-19, the most
devastating pandemic that the world has experienced, has further confirmed what
other UN agencies have also revealed, about the limitations of international
organisations and their dependency on powerful States. They all rely on
member-States to furnish information.
Herein lies their strength and weakness.
The International
Health Regulations (2005) is a legally binding instrument of international law
that aims to assist countries to work together to save lives and livelihood
endangered by diseases and other health risks. They are framed to prevent and
protect against diseases, control and provide a public health response to
international spread of diseases.
We have to strengthen
the existing international health organisation and remove the blocks, if any,
in its functioning. The 73rd World Health Assembly is scheduled to
meet next month and before that, some concrete proposals must be worked out to
make the WHO stronger with authentic global data and technology for global
acceptance. More importantly, the US charge against the organisation must be
cleared, for the world has a right to know the truth behind the outbreak of
COVID-19 pandemic and the need to unite against it.
The world cannot
withstand even thoughts and speculations over creation and manipulations of
infectious germs. --- INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
New Delhi
21 April 2020
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