GS II (International Relations-international organisations- the WHO)

World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized UN agency with the objective of “better health for all” through collaboration with different countries.

COVID-19 crisis has triggered the debate again whether WHO is significant in handling such a crisis. The issues with WHO are:

1- Previous instances of wrong judgment: In the past WHO declared HIV, SERS, H1N1 as public health emergency either too late or too early creating panic.

2- Being politically correct over saving everyone’s life: US accusing WHO of colluding with China and improper dissemination of info during early days which led to the spread of disease.

3- No proper investigation and relies completely on individual member countries: If WHO would have listened to the early warnings of Taiwan, the impact of COVID would have been minimized. But WHO entirely depended on China’s data.

Considering health as a public good, none of the countries can be excluded to access health and here WHO plays a very important role such as

1- Effective dissemination of information,

2- Coordinating with different countries in the development of vaccines,

3- Training of the health workers and providing them with kits

4- Most importantly the countries who don’t have much resource to fight this COVID war is being supported by WHO.

If WHO has limitations, these have been imposed on it by nations such as excessive dependence on funds from member countries, less autonomy of WHO’s head, no independent health experts etc. Having said this, WHO has already played a significant role in the eradication of Smallpox, Polio etc. Ebola outbreak was successfully contained due to WHO’s effort.

There is no replacement of WHO especially in the current scenario and it is crucial for the world's health leadership.

"Attained of human to the highest possible level of health"is the objective of WHO.Established in 1945 , headquartered at Geneva. Highlights of WHO; •It is the nodal agency for ensuring protection to public health. •It coordinates and oversees the health initiatives by the nation •provides technical expertise and aid in need. •It works for capacity building of the health workers to fight against public health issues. •It facilitates international cooperation by sharing knowledge based on the past experiences. •It also implements best health practices in underdeveloped areas and engages national and local government to ensure standardisation of regulations. •Ithelped in eradicating small pox and is on way to eradicate polio too. WHO Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) made by MoH&FW and WHO Country Office for India to deal.with India specific health issues. Concerns: •Largely funded by developed countries and Gates foundation,so source of funding isn't secured,their work can clash with interest of the donors. •Disastrous handling of COVID-19,Nipah,Ebola ,SARS which had catastrophic impact on the nations and their confidence in WHO. •Allegedly blindly believed China's data without authentication and proper investigation •It's parent organization UN is located in US.So, geopolitical factors can affect the credibility of WHO. WHO is a double edged sword.Irrespective of its laggings,it is a multilateral organization whose structure can be reformed to get desired results instead of making another alternative organization.