The WHO, the global governance of health and pandemic politics (original) (raw)

WHO’s role in the global health system

Research and development Pharmaceuticals Access to medicines Intellectual property WHO reform Consultative Expert Working Group on R&D (CEWG) R&D treaty Neglected diseases Antibiotics a b s t r a c t Recent global debates on the research and development (R&D) of health technologies, such as drugs, diagnostics and vaccines, can be seen as a microcosm of discussions on the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the global health system more broadly. The global R&D system has come under heightened scrutiny with the publication of a 2012 report by the WHO Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development (CEWG), which made a number of recommendations to more equitably meet global health needs. The CEWG report followed a decade-long process of debate at the WHO on the weaknesses of the global R&D system, which include problems of affordability, limited research where market returns are small or uncertain (such as the 'neglected diseases' that predominantly affect the world's poorest), inefficient overlap of research efforts, and overuse of medicines such as antibiotics. The CEWG report called on WHO Member States to develop a global framework to improve monitoring, coordination and financing of R&D efforts through the establishment of a Global Health R&D Observatory and the negotiation of a binding treaty on R&D. While the treaty option has been put on the back-burner for several years, Member States nevertheless agreed at the 2013 World Health Assembly (WHA) on concrete steps towards a global framework. Progress at the 2013 WHA reaffirmed the central role of WHO as a convener, and the WHA's decision to create the Observatory within the WHO Secretariat underscored the organization's role as a source of strategic knowledge in the global health system. However, despite WHO's constitutional mandate as

The World Health Organization and the transition from “international” to “global” public health

Journal Information, 2006

The term “global health” is rapidly replacing the older terminology of “international health.” We describe the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in both international and global health and in the transition from one to the other. We suggest that the term “global health” emerged as part of larger political and historical processes, in which WHO found its dominant role challenged and began to reposition itself within a shifting set of power alliances.Between 1948 and 1998, WHO moved from being the unquestioned leader of international health to being an organization in crisis, facing budget shortfalls and diminished status, especially given the growing influence of new and powerful players. We argue that WHO began to refashion itself as the coordinator, strategic planner, and leader of global health initiatives as a strategy of survival in response to this transformed international political context.

The Future of the World Health Organization: China and the United States Square Off

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy

Summary The purpose of this essay is to discuss the ramifications of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic on the future of the World Health Organization (WHO). In particular, the WHO has come under fire for its initial response and reporting of the pandemic, its acceptance of Chinese self-reporting and management of the crisis and dubious claims that it failed to acknowledge and respond to data from Taiwan that indicated human–to-human transmission was occurring. These alleged missteps have brought unwanted and intense international scrutiny on the organisation and have, perhaps, left its future uncertain. This essay examines the history and mandate of the WHO, its vulnerability to national and regional political movements and some likely outcomes for the near- and long-term future. Additionally, it briefly addresses how the WHO is used as a diplomatic surrogate for the UN, especially in matters relating to Taiwan.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, SHOULD WE SEE IT IN A NEW LIGHT?

World Health Organization (WHO) the mother organisation of all global health initiativesis actively involved in conceiving effective strategies to fight different Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) worldwide. WHO has the goal to serve poorer nation effectively so that they can have fair access to various vaccines and drugs.The organisation is also ensuring sustainable financing for the global health sector. However, to deliver the effective health initiatives all across the continents, WHO should reason more efficiently with the regional offices so that it can collaborate in decision making and implement those decisions more precisely and decisively. WHO should act in coordination with other private, country-based and global organisations. It should advocate for research independent of any industrial interest, human rights policies and improvement of health services. WHO needs to modify its global endeavours which will intensify international responses in combating any emergency.To hold on to its current leadership role, if necessary, WHO should undergo significant reformation. Until present days, there is no substitute for WHO. WHO should realise that without empowering the marginalised people no global health goal can be achieved adequately.

The Global Health We Need, the WHO We Deserve

Global Health Center Working Paper no. 24 , 2020

WHO remains little known to the general public, although it carries out important missions to protect people’s lives, such as public health surveillance, technical assistance to governments, consensus building and knowledge sharing, international advocacy for universal access to health, and international coordination of responses to global health threats. It plays an even more crucial role for countries with fragile health systems and weak research capacity. This paper proposes six recommendations for reforming global health governance. What does WHO need? Greater authority in emergency situations, increased financial autonomy, internal reorganization to improve efficiency and restore the authority of the Director-General, enhanced inclusion of scientific communities, greater involvement of non-state organizations, and close connection of global health with biodiversity and climate issues.

The World Health Organization was born as a normative agency: Seventy-five years of global health law under WHO governance

PLOS global public health, 2024

The World Health Organization (WHO) was born as a normative agency and has looked to global health law to structure collective action to realize global health with justice. Framed by its constitutional authority to act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health, WHO has long been seen as the central actor in the development and implementation of global health law. However, WHO has faced challenges in advancing law to prevent disease and promote health over the past 75 years, with global health law constrained by new health actors, shifting normative frameworks, and soft law diplomacy. These challenges were exacerbated amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as states neglected international legal commitments in national health responses. Yet, global health law reforms are now underway to strengthen WHO governance, signaling a return to lawmaking for global health. Looking back on WHO's 75 th anniversary, this article examines the central importance of global health law under WHO governance, reviewing the past successes, missed opportunities, and future hopes for WHO. For WHO to meet its constitutional authority to become the normative agency it was born to be, we offer five proposals to reestablish a WHO fit for purpose: normative instruments, equity and human rights mainstreaming, sustainable financing, One Health, and good governance. Drawing from past struggles, these reforms will require further efforts to revitalize hard law authorities in global health, strengthen WHO leadership across the global governance landscape, uphold equity and rights at the center of global health law, and expand negotiations in global health diplomacy.

Global rules for global health: why we need an independent, impartial WHO

BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2014

Recent outbreaks of MERS highlight the need for a global response to infectious disease WHO has had a crucial role in developing rapid information sharing on new infectious threats and fair arrangements for access to drugs and vaccines and to research and development WHO is the only international agency that can broker such global rules but is badly underfunded to perform this core function The MERS outbreaks offer an opportunity to reform WHO financing