The WHO’s weak response to China’s mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak has laundered China’s image at the expense of the WHO’s credibility. The time is ripe for clear leadership from the WHO based on science not politics.
Post by Michael Collins
The World Health Organization (WHO) was founded in 1948 with the lofty goal of ensuring the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all people. In the years since, the organization has been instrumental in controlling or eradicating communicable diseases and investing in healthcare capacity across the globe. However, the WHO is now facing rising international criticism over outsized Chinese influence in the organization’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
The WHO Director-General (DG) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been an outspoken advocate for the Chinese government’s COVID-19 response. On January 28, Tedros met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Following the meeting, Tedros commended China for “setting a new standard for outbreak control” and praised the country’s top leadership for its “openness to sharing information” with the WHO and other countries. Yet in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, Chinese officials were busy arresting and punishing citizens for “spreading rumors” about the disease, while online censors controlled the flow of information. Despite growing evidence of China’s mishandling of the outbreak and rising domestic Chinese outrage over the government’s censorship, Tedros remains unmoved. On February 20 at the Munich Security Conference, Tedros doubled down on his praise for China stating that “China has bought the world time.”