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Is the WHO fit for purpose?

The WHO investigates the coronavirus origins in China. Is it too little, too late?

More than six months after the outbreak of the coronavirus, a team from the World Health Organization will - for the first time - be given access to physical samples of the virus inside China. It’s an important moment for the WHO, which has been accused of providing patchy scientific advice and reacting too slowly to the threats posed by the virus. There has been an especially critical reaction from the agency’s biggest donor, the United States. Donald Trump has begun the process of withdrawing the US from the WHO, accusing it of being under the 'total control' of China and of 'misleading the world' about the coronavirus. The WHO chief said the organisation needs to reflect on its role during the pandemic and has launched an independent evaluation. So are the criticisms fair? And what difference will investigations inside China make now? Is the organisation still fulfilling its mandate? How has it changed through the years and crucially, does it need the United States to survive? Join Ritula Shah and guests as they discuss whether the World Health Organization is fit for purpose.

Available now

53 minutes

Last on

Sat 18 Jul 2020 03:06GMT

Contributors

Dr Clare Wenham – Assistant Professor of Global Health Policy at the London School of Economics

Professor Keiji Fukuda - Former Assistant Director-General for Health Security at the World Health Organization, currently with the University of Hong Kong School of Public Health

Dr Nils Daulaire - The former US representative on the WHO's Executive Board, during the Obama administration

Bhaskar Balakrishnan -  A former Indian Ambassador and diplomat, now a Science Diplomacy Fellow at the Delhi-based think tank ‘Research and Information Systems’ (RIS)

Photo

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organisation, in Geneva - Reuters

Broadcasts

  • Fri 17 Jul 2020 09:06GMT
  • Fri 17 Jul 2020 23:06GMT
  • Sat 18 Jul 2020 03:06GMT

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