Defunding and Departing from the WHO: A Threat to Global Security and Also the United States

In the midst of the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, President Trump’s announcement that the US will defund and depart from the World Health Organization (WHO) poses a clear and present danger to all Americans and the international community. Infectious diseases do not recognize national boundaries nor a person’s politics. Our responses to them cannot either.

President Trump standing amidst an all-White male representation of leadership in the White House Rose Garden speaking to the press, socially distanced in pandemic times, was a bleak and foreboding image as the announcement was made. We feel this was an unprecedented, imprudent, irrational, irresponsible and reckless decision. However, outrage is not a strategy. We need to lay open to the American public and policymakers at all levels of government the value and importance of the WHO and global health to the United States’ interests.

Founded in 1948, the WHO is the agency of the United Nations (UN) charged with organizing international health efforts and in ebbs and flows has navigated the complex political environment with shifting axes, increasing geopolitical instability and the rise of non-state based actors. Currently the work of the WHO is embedded in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The immediate bold goals of the WHO is to work to providing health coverage to an additional one billion people; protecting one billion more from health emergencies such as epidemics; and ensuring another one billion people enjoy better health and well-being, including protection from non-infectious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, injury, lung diseases and mental health disorders. The WHO also collaborates with other UN agencies across a range of programs intended to prevent health problems including: emergency response; addressing environmental threats from pollution; environmental degradation and biodiversity losses; improving maternal and child health; access to adequate nutrition; safe water; sanitation; immunizations; neglected tropical diseases; the provision of essential drug; and building capacity particularly in the world’s poorest nations to address the health challenges they face. The WHO has well documented successes, such as eradicating smallpox, is on the cusp of eradicating polio, reducing tobacco use, improving access to medications, tackling HIV, tuberculosis and malaria to name a few. Like any organization, it has taken criticism such as its response to China at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic

But this is the time for positioning, reconfiguring, strategizing and recalibrating the WHO, not trying to destroy it. Burning to the ground hard won structures developed after decades of collaboration is a deadly folly, particularly during the worst pandemic of our lifetime.

The WHO is controlled by delegates from its 194 member states who vote on the organization’s policies and elect its director general. Approximately 20% of its annual $2.2 billion budget comes from mandatory dues paid by member states. The rest is made up of voluntary donations from countries, and other partners, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The director general is not a president but has to utilize diplomacy to convince countries to support the organizations activities.

Like any large bureaucracy, with multiple stakeholders and limited resources, the WHO is not always nimble and proactive as was the case with Ebola. COVID-19 forced it to navigate complex local problems with sovereign national states. But rather than tossing out criticism and derision, the US should use its immense strength in public health diplomacy found in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National institutes for Health, USAID, and State Department to reform and strengthen  the WHO rather than destroy it.

This will require a fundamental pivot. We have to shift from a stance of nationalism, populism and individualism to global collaboration and a spirit of collectivism. Fundamentally by definition, a pandemic underscores the fact that we all live on the planet, inextricably linked and the well described adage that viruses know no borders. Those of us who work in global health recognize that the WHO is one of the few structures that offers us hope for coordination and collaboration to address the complex threats we are facing.

The exit of the US from the WHO will be a bleak signal to the world. This is not just about money, it is about the values and the importance of democracy.

The international community has looked to the US to stand up for these principles for generations, particularly within the WHO. The terrible cost of the US defunding the WHO will be borne by low-income countries. They rely on the organization to help them roll out essential services including vaccinations for children, maternal care, cancer screening, access to essential medications and more. These programs will now be eliminated and will result in the preventable deaths of hundreds of thousands of the world’s most disadvantaged people.

The essence of global health is a threat to health and well-being anywhere is a threat to us all. We need mechanisms for global governance, accountability and fostering of science and innovation.

Authors:
Dr. Keith Martin (Executive Director, Consortium of Universities for Global Health)
Dr. Patricia Davidson (Dean, School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Co-Secretary General World Health Organization Collaborating Centers for Nursing and Midwifery)

Original post https://alertarticles.info