WHAT HAS THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION BEEN DOING TO PREVENT COVID-19?
Zoë Wallace
Head of Political and Global Impacts
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Secretary and Outreach Officer
Is the World Health Organization part of the United Nations? Why is there tension between the US and the UN?
The World Health Organization is an autonomous agency based in Geneva that was created as part of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The United Nations as a whole was founded in San Francisco in 1945. The 51 nations who made up the initial membership were dedicated to imposing international order and laws to prevent another world war.
The United States has always had a tense relationship with the UN, especially because it creates a coalition that can rival its power. The US also contributes a significant amount to the budget of the UN, and although there has been a worldwide trend towards globalization, the US has always been a country that has striven for complete independence. Despite this, the UN benefits the US in many ways. It creates a lawful stability in the world that the US could not create by itself, and allows the implementation of regulations that benefit the common good of joined nations.
During the Cold War, the UN proved itself to be more useful in solving social and economic problems than problems involving military conflict. These social and economic problems have become the focus of the UN in modern times. The UN does not have a large military capability, so it is difficult to enforce international agreements, especially in wars that the UN deems “illegal.” The UN Peacekeeping Forces are relatively small in force and restricted in their actions, but the cooperation of the many nations that comprise it allow for states to be held more accountable for their actions. Each country can voice its concerns, which helps less powerful nations have a voice in discussions with countries such as the US and China.
The UN is often underfunded as it presents an example of a collective goods problem in which “freeloader” countries may unfairly benefit from the contributions of others. Also, the US has often failed to pay its part of the UN budget (the amount paid by each country depends on the country’s overall wealth). A common argument to justify this is that the US does not benefit greatly from the UN even though it continues to pay 22% of the budget, which is more money than any other country. Alternatively, it could be argued that the US, as the most powerful country in the world, is responsible for supporting others and leading by example.
What is the purpose of the World Health Organization? What has it done in the past?
Politics aside, the UN General Assembly has formal ties with numerous autonomous agencies, including the World Health Organization. Other organizations include the Food and Agriculture Organization, International Labor Organization, and World Meteorological Organization. The goal of the WHO is to conduct immunization campaigns and improve health conditions worldwide. The World Health Organization led the world effort to rid the world of smallpox in the 1960s and 1970s. The WHO monitors, reports, and disseminates information about every disease outbreak, from the AIDS epidemic to ebola. Other diseases include ChiKungunya, Cholera, Hendra, Zika, and Lassa Fever. Now, the WHO is monitoring COVID-19.
The WHO website describes their mission to be “from prevention through preparedness to early warning, response, and early recovery, the WHO Health Emergencies programme is operational. WHO has an essential role to play in supporting Member States to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies with public health consequences.” To learn more, visit their website: www.who.int.
How has the World Health Organization responded to the coronavirus?
Employees of the World Health Organization working with the Trump administration informed the US government of the threat of COVID-19 in December of 2019. By January 1st, 2020, the WHO Incident Management Support Team had been mobilized to deal with the outbreak. By January 20th, a WHO team had returned from China, where experts had been investigating the virus. Working with the Chinese government, an agreement was set to allow further investigation and assistance in the prevention of a larger outbreak. COVID-19 was declared a Public Health Emergency on January 30th. By March 18th, WHO was launching the Solidarity Trials, clinical trials to help find a cure for the virus.
The WHO advises governments around the world to help contain the virus, and provides resources and information surrounding these issues. On their website, the most up-to-date information about COVID-19 is available for everyone to see. When the governments are informed of the threat this virus poses, they can make informed decisions that positively impact global health. The WHO has suggestions for policies, emergency management, and guidelines for the restrictions that should be placed on individuals. Their website is also a place where members of the public can have their questions answered as new information arises and understand what they can do on their own to stop the spread of the virus (there are instructions for social distancing). They have daily reports and regular briefings so that officials and the public can stay on top of the situation with the help of reliable news sources. Additionally, the WHO is taking direct action by pioneering the search for a treatment for the virus and making available current clinical trial and research related to COVID-19.
Why is President Trump discontinuing US funding for the World Health Organization?
President Donald Trump has decided to freeze funding for the WHO due to perceived failures in responding to the severity of COVID-19. The main criticisms were related to the length of time the WHO waited before declaring COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency and for their praise of China’s handling of the Coronavirus. It is difficult for many people to believe that China’s infection and death rates have been so low, especially considering that the outbreak of the virus resulted from the lack of regulations on the wet market in Wuhan. The WHO has continued to praise China’s transparency and willingness to work with WHO officials, even though their role in downplaying the extent of the virus may have caused a false sense of security that allowed COVID-19 to become so widespread. Some officials have stated that careful diplomacy and flattery may have been necessary in order to gain any degree of transparency into the progress of the virus in China.
Critics point out that President Trump may be using the WHO as a scapegoat to justify the failures in his own administration’s response to the coronavirus (see: Dysfunction in the Administration). As some have argued that he should have taken stronger steps to mitigate the spread of the virus early on, Trump seems to be pinning the blame on the WHO instead, claiming that they are “very China centric” and threatening that the US government “will be giving that a good look.” The Trump administration has been looking into “what role WHO might have had in trying to cover [the virus] up” (Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Ron Johnson).
As a result, the administration has threatened to stop all funding to the WHO (though this may not happen because this money was appropriated to the WHO by Congress). As the world’s largest contributor to the United Nations, the withdrawal of these funds would likely have a large impact on WHO operations. Since COVID-19 is not expected to be contained until at least 2021, the budget cuts this action could cause would be catastrophic to the world response to the virus, possibly resulting in faster spread and an overburdening of medical resources. This would disproportionately affect underdeveloped countries who rely heavily on the WHO for supplies and resources.
Sources:
Amt, Auswärtiges. “Background Information: Contributions to the United Nations Budget.” German Federal Foreign Office, www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/internationale-organisationen/vereintenationen/-/281336.
“Origin and Development of Health Cooperation.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 30 May 2011, www.who.int/global_health_histories/background/en/.
Pevehouse, Jon C. W. International Relations. 11th ed., Pearson, 2016.
Beggin, Riley. “Trump Says the WHO Covered up Covid-19. A New Report Shows That’s Not True.” Vox, 19 Apr. 2020, www.vox.com/covid-19-coronavirus-us-response-trump/2020/4/19/21227175/coronavirus-trump-who-information-china-embeds-december.
World Health Organization: WHO. “WHO Timeline - COVID-19.” World Health Organization, 27 Apr. 2020, www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19.
Rauhala, Emily. “Chinese Officials Note Serious Problems in Coronavirus Response. The World Health Organization Keeps Praising Them.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Feb. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-officials-note-serious-problems-in-coronavirus-response-the-world-health-organization-keeps-praising-them/2020/02/08/b663dd7c-4834-11ea-91ab-ce439aa5c7c1_story.html.
Beggin, Riley. “Trump Says WHO Didn't Share Early Information about Covid-19. A New Report Shows That's Not the Case.” Vox, Vox, 19 Apr. 2020, www.vox.com/covid-19-coronavirus-us-response-trump/2020/4/19/21227175/coronavirus-trump-who-information-china-embeds-december.
Brennan, David. “Who Funds the World Health Organization? Trump Freeze Could Leave a Huge Hole in the Organization's Budget.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 15 Apr. 2020, www.newsweek.com/who-funds-world-health-organization-donald-trump-freeze-huge-hole-budget-1497968.
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