GS2 PYQ 2020 (Mains Answer Writing): WHO and Health Security | UPSC Mains: International Relations PDF Download

Critically examine the role of WHO in providing global health security during the COVID-19 pandemic (UPSC GS2 2020)

World health oraganiation was established in 1948 to work for Global public health security ,But the COVID-19 pandemic has put a sharp focus on the functioning of World Health Organisation (WHO), a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) responsible for global health management. From the start of the outbreak, the organisation has been at the centre of many controversies.
The World Health Organization (WHO), role in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic 

• Helping countries to prepare and respond: WHO has issued COVID-19 Strategic Prearedness and Response Plan, which identifies the major actions countries need to take, and the resources needed to carry them out. 
• Providing accurate information, busting dangerous myths: The internet is awash with information about the pandemic, some of it useful, some of it false or misleading. In the midst of this “infodemic”, WHO is producing accurate, useful guidance that can help save lives. 
• Ensuring vital supplies reach frontline health workers: Personal protective equipment is essential to ensure health professionals are able to save lives, including their own. WHO has shipped more than million items of personal protective equipment and diagnostic teststo 126 countries, in all regions, and more are being sourced Issues that have plagued the World Health Organization.
• The first relates to the sharing of data during the COVID outbreak. The organisation only relied on Chinese government for data about the outbreak and did not pay heed to information that came from other sources, leading to mischaracterisation about the severity of the virus in the early days of its spread.
• Second the current pandemic shows that many countries including the developed and developing ones lack national health capacities to deal with infectious diseases despite being signatories to IHR (2005). Likewise, it also reveals the dearth of visionary leadership in WHO. The transnational corporations and pharmaceutical companies often influence the organisation’s decisions vis-a-vis affordable global health solutions. 
• Finally, the three-tier structure of the WHO further complicates its ability to coordinate international cooperation. Each regional office acts as a sphere of influence in which they elect their own Director. These self-governing regional offices make decision making difficult for Geneva and the success of policy outcomes is mostly dependent on the relationship between them. 

Way forwad/Reforms needed in WHO 

• Strong sanctions: Unable to assert authority, WHO has to rely on soft power strategies to gain countries’ cooperation, leading to many of the criticisms the organization receives. The International Health Regulations currently mandate that governments report any “public health emergencies of international concern” and cooperate with WHO to take action, but WHO has no legal ability to enforce this. The regulations must be reformed to include enforceable sanctions against countries that fail to comply with their mandate. 
• Narrow mandate: WHO’s mandate must be clarified and narrowed. The organization has a very broad scope — in theory, all activities that can improve the health of all populations worldwide are under its purview. Instead, WHO should focus primarily on activities where it can bring the most added values. 
• Increased untied funding: Many experts have pointed to WHO’s limited budget, which is less than the budget of many major U.S. hospitals, as the main culprit for its current failings. The share of unearmarked funding is also ridiculously low, with membership dues representing less than 20% of the agency’s total budget. 
• Open governance: Alongside its budget, the governance of WHO must also be reformed to facilitate the inclusion of alternative voices, such as from the civil society, and to better channel the influence of private philanthropists. 

Conclusion 
Unless a strong democratic coalition of countries emerges to push for these reforms, they are unlikely to happen. But a wider reflection on the role of WHO is necessary to ensure that the next time a public health threat emerges, the world has a strong global health agency to confront it. Because the question is not whether another threat will emerge after COVID-19, but when.

Topics covered - WHO and International Health Bodies