From Reuters:
“Exclusive: U.S. opposes plans
to strengthen World Health Organization”
The United States, the World
Health Organization's top donor, is resisting proposals to make the agency more
independent, four officials involved in the talks said, raising doubts about
the Biden administration's long-term support for the U.N. agency. The proposal,
made by the WHO's working group on sustainable financing, would increase each
member state's standing annual contribution, according to a WHO document
published online and dated Jan. 4. The plan is part of a wider reform process
galvanised by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the limitations of
the WHO's power to intervene early in a crisis.
But the U.S. government is
opposing the reform because it has concerns about the WHO's ability to confront
future threats, including from China, U.S. officials told Reuters. It is
pushing instead for the creation of a separate fund, directly controlled by
donors, that would finance prevention and control of health emergencies. Four
European officials involved in the talks, who declined to be named because they
were not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed the U.S. opposition. The
U.S. government had no immediate comment. The published proposal calls for
member states' mandatory contributions to rise gradually from 2024 so they
would account for half the agency's $2 billion core budget by 2028, compared to
less than 20% now, the document said.
The WHO's core budget is aimed at
fighting pandemics and strengthening healthcare systems across the world. It
also raises an additional $1 billion or so a year to tackle specific global
challenges such as tropical diseases and influenza. Supporters say that the
current reliance on voluntary funding from member states and from charities
such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation forces the WHO to focus on
priorities set by the funders, and makes it less able to criticise members when
things go wrong. An independent panel on pandemics that was appointed to advise
on the WHO reform had called for a much bigger increase in mandatory fees, to
75% of the core budget, deeming the current system "a major risk to the
integrity and independence" of the WHO.
LONG-STANDING SCEPTICISM The
WHO itself responded to a query by saying that "only flexible and
predictable funds can enable WHO to fully implement the priorities of the
Member States". Top European Union donors, including Germany, back
the plan, along with most African, South Asian, South American and Arab
countries, three of the European officials said. The proposal is to be
discussed at the WHO's executive board meeting next week but the divisions mean
no agreement is expected, three of the officials said. The WHO confirmed
there was currently no consensus among member states, and said talks were
likely to continue until the annual meeting in May of the World Health
Assembly, the agency's top decision-making body. European donors in
particular favour empowering, rather than weakening, multilateral organisations
including the WHO. One European official said the U.S. plan "causes
scepticism among many countries", and said the creation of a new structure
controlled by donors, rather than by the WHO, would weaken the agency's ability
to combat future pandemics.
Washington has been critical of
the WHO for some time. Former president Donald Trump pulled the United States
out of the WHO after accusing it of defending China's initial delays in sharing
information when COVID-19 emerged there in 2019. The Biden administration
rejoined soon after taking office, but officials told Reuters they think the
WHO needs significant reform, and raised concerns about its governance,
structure and ability to confront rising threats, not least from China. One of
the European officials said other big countries, including Japan and Brazil,
were also hesitant about the published WHO proposal. Two of the European
officials said China had not yet made its position clear, while a third
official listed Beijing among the critics of the proposal. The governments of
Japan, China and Brazil had no immediate comment.
^ The WHO has been slow and nearly
ineffective against Covid – especially when dealing with China. Something needs
to change with the WHO. I don’t know what, but something. It is broken and not
working correctly right now. ^
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