Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization’s authority must prevail

The World Health Organization is one of the organizations that was affected by COVID-19 the most after its role and strategy weren’t enough to halt the spread of the virus throughout the world because although they forecasted an outbreak in Asia , the novel coronavirus took the most important health organization by surprise.

Their international rules, agreed by experts from all over the world, should be implemented without a doubt, moreover, the decision shouldn’t be up to each country. Nevertheless, the WHO has a weakness: it depends on the resources granted by all the countries who are members, which translates into a lack of resources. This has become an issue that spreads uncertainty inside the international organization, however, it has worsened after the United States threatened to withdraw from the WHO and stop its financial contributions.

Recommended: Trump halts U.S. funding to the World Health Organization amidst coronavirus pandemic

Whether Trump ’s accusations against the WHO regarding China are baseless or not, the real issue is to understand that amid a public health crisis like the one sparked by COVID-19 , it has become clear that the world needs a strong international organization that can dictate and enforce measures all over the world, not only makes recommendations.

This is one of the challenges faced by multilateralism in the 21st century, amid a pandemic . But on the contrary, amid its institutional weakness and although the WHO would like to establish itself as a leading organization and the epicenter of the strategies to fight COVID-19 , in reality, each country is making their own decisions, influences by their particular interests, which turned COVID-19 into a pandemic, with no hopes of stopping it.

As the article published by EL UNIVERSAL today shows, the countries that are members of the WHO must reconsider what type of international health authority is needed and what response capacities could be granted to face a health crisis that could be prevented in the future, without forgetting to provide more and better resources, as well as reaction plans and immediate coordination. The world’s health is worth it.

Recommended: COVID-19 FAQs

gm