Over 85,000 people across the globe have died because of coronavirus. The total number of people tested positive for the virus is now in excess of 1.5 million. So it is in the fitness of things to ask what has the World Health Organization (WHO) done, first in terms of early warnings and subsequently to contain the pandemic. NewsMobile delves deep into some important questions that are now being asked about WHO’s role.
Has WHO mishandled the COVID-19 crisis?
WHO’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis has been drawing sharp criticism from various quarters.
China took over a month to disclose the virus outbreak and even then was not willing to share the details about the strain of the virus, people affected and vaccine trials including the much-touted plasma implants. WHO could have stepped in and cracked the whip. Instead, it appeared to be soft-pedaling the matter.
Also Read: COVID-19: As questions mount, China’s role in virus spread under scanner
It was only sometime in mid-February that the virus was recognized as a serious one and even then, it wasn’t declared a pandemic by the world health body. By this, over 72000 people had tested positive for the virus and a few thousand were already dead.
In late January and beginning of February, the WHO cautioned against any travel bans to China and stoppage of passenger cruise liners. This is despite the mounting evidence of the virus spread from instances like the ‘Diamond Princess’ cruise which had docked off the coast of Japan at Yokohama and had seen more than 300 passengers testing positive.
The WHO also came out with a directive against wearing of masks by the general public and emphasized that only medical practitioners and those treating COVID-19 positive were required to wear it. This was an ill-timed advice which was easily avoidable.
From the beginning, WHO has been against any sort of lockdown and this could have proved to be costly in many places such as Italy, Spain and other nations. China shut down Hubei province and other places on January 23.
Certain media reports have also raised question marks over the old connections between the incumbent Director-General of the WHO Tedros Adhanom–who in his previous role as the Foreign Minister of Ethiopia from 2012-2016 facilitated large Chinese investments into Ethiopia—and China.
WHO also failed to provide the details of the virus’ ability to survive on surfaces, community transmissions and its RNA strands to the scientific community.
Which countries has the WHO drawn criticism from?
US President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of being a “Chinese proxy” and threatened to cut funding to the organization. Trump has said that WHO appeared to be “very biased toward China”. The US contributes the largest amount to the WHO amounting to about USD 400 million compared to China which doles out USD 44 million.
Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, too, has slammed the world health body saying WHO should be renamed “China Health Organisation”.
During his intervention in the Extraordinary Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit meet, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked about the need to “strengthen and reform intergovernmental organizations like WHO”. In his address, the PM had conveyed the sense that WHO had not lived up to its mandate.
What has been WHO’s defence so far?
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has defended WHO’s work and called for an end to the “politicization”of Covid-19. “Please, unity at national level, no using Covid or political points,” Dr Tedros said. “Second, honest solidarity at the global level. And honest leadership from the US and China. The DG has further said that the most powerful should lead the way and “quarantine Covid politics”.