Should the United States continue funding of WHO- World Health Organization
WHO monitors and coordinates activities on health-related issues including genetically modified foods, climate change, tobacco and drug use and road safety. It also maintains a list of essential medicines it encourages hospitals to stock.
Accomplishments
1979 – Child vaccination program which lead to eradication of smallpox
99% reduction in polo infections
2003 SARS epidemic (acute respiratory)- but delayed its response
WHO 2019 Strategy:
- Provide health coverage to one billion more people
- Protect one billion people from health emergencies such as epidemics
- Ensure one billion people enjoy better health and well-being including protection from
- Non-infectious diseases such as cancer
Management
Headquarter in Geneva Switzerland- six regional and 149 country offices. Controlled by delegates from 194 member states who vote on policy.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, previously Ethiopia’s foreign minister, was elected to a five year term from 2017 to 2022 and is the first WHO leader from Africa
Budget- $4.8 billion for 2020 and 2021 – 20 percent from mandatory dues paid by members. Top contributors are United States, United Kingdom and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Voluntary contributions are often earmarked for specific initiatives.
Budget Details –https://www.who.int/about/finances-accountability/funding/assessed-contributions/en/
In the last decade, WHO has become increasingly dependent on voluntary contributions which puts pressure on the organization to align its goals with those of donors. President Trump has threatened to cut the WHO contributions if other members proceeded with a resolution to encourage breastfeeding. United States is WHO’s largest donor and in 2018 and 2019- contributed about 20% of WHO’s total budget – $1,095MM ($1 Billion)
President Trump is halting US funding to WHO for 60 to 90 days as he view WHO was slow to respond to the COVID crises and that the organization has been “China-centric.”
Failures
Members don’t report outbreaks because they fear economic repercussion- 2003- China denied it has an outbreak of SARS. In Ethiopia- Cholera (denied by Tedros).
WHO issues non-binding guidance to members on how they should respond to an emergency including travel and trade restrictions.
WHO also provides treatment guidelines, hoping to prevent panics and coordinates scientific data and experts to where they are most needed.
WHO create a reserve force of public health workers and a $100 million emergency fund to place medical responders, equipment, supplies and medicine on the ground quickly. (has this been implemented in COVID-19?)
2014- Ebola outbreak
2020- Covid 19 – Did Covid leak from China’s Highest biosafety lab next door to Wuhan Market-Coronavirus may have leaked from China
Tobacco Use- China has 350 million smokers and produces 42% of the world’s cigarettes. China has a lung cancer epidemic- in 2015 there were 733,000 new lung cancer cases and 610,000 deaths and over one million Chinese people die a year from tobacco-related diseases. The tobacco industry contributes 7 to 11 % of the Chinese government’s annual tax revenues. In Latin American, nearly 70 million smokers are at risk of tobacco-related death and disease. In the US there are about 480,000 deaths a year or about 1 in 5 deaths. From 2005 there were 21% adults smoking and in 2018 there were 14% in the US.
Sources:
Trump halts funding to WHO -NPR
