The World Health Organisation

[King Nuts]

Who's not going to agree with having a thing called the World Health Organisation?

It's bound to be bold, noble, and altruistic, right? How can it not be with a name like that?

But for a budget of close to $5 billion per annum, ultimately made up of tax income, I think we can expect better. They colluded with the Chinese Govt to conceal and obfuscate the origin and initial spread of this goddamn virus. The WHO could've done its job, and nipped this thing in the bud at the outset. It needed to step up to the plate, and not doing so has failed us all.

And now Trump says he wants to cut its budget. Good. What's the WHO actually for, if not to save us from pandemics like this?

Even the fucking Guardian, normally one hundred per cent onside with any pan-national, globalist, tax-munching organisation like the WHO, United Nations, EU and all the rest of them, concedes they've lost the plot somewhat in recent times. But of course, and typically for the Guardian, blame is attributed to insufficient funding, and the article then goes on to try and exonerate the WHO by blaming Western countries for not following their advice. No surprise there. Still, it's an interesting read:

External Link/Members Only

[Doc Holliday]

Still, it's an interesting read:

External Link/Members Only

Thanks for that ... an excellent read.

[GingerNuts]

It isn't WHO's responsibility to save us from a pandemic. That rests on individual member states and I'm sure you know that already.

[King Nuts]

It isn't WHO's responsibility to save us from a pandemic. That rests on individual member states and I'm sure you know that already.

They had an opportunity to do something towards heading it off, or at least limiting the spread. They didn't take it.

[GingerNuts]

They had an opportunity to do something towards heading it off, or at least limiting the spread. They didn't take it.

The WHO declared a "public health emergency of international concern" on 30 January and called on governments to pursue containment and testing efforts.

Maybe they were a little late with the declaration but the main responsibility rests with the countries who did little in response.

[King Nuts]

The WHO declared a "public health emergency of international concern" on 30 January and called on governments to pursue containment and testing efforts.

Maybe they were a little late with the declaration but the main responsibility rests with the countries who did little in response.

I'm not going to split hairs with you. Read the article, and you'll see what happened. There was a delay in the WHO getting on top of this and it has proved to be monumentally expensive.

Besides which, what exactly is the WHO for, if not to be on top of things like this?

[The High Sparrow]

Who's not going to agree with having a thing called the World Health Organisation?

It's bound to be bold, noble, and altruistic, right? How can it not be with a name like that?

But for a budget of close to $5 billion per annum, ultimately made up of tax income, I think we can expect better. They colluded with the Chinese Govt to conceal and obfuscate the origin and initial spread of this goddamn virus. The WHO could've done its job, and nipped this thing in the bud at the outset. It needed to step up to the plate, and not doing so has failed us all.

And now Trump says he wants to cut its budget. Good. What's the WHO actually for, if not to save us from pandemics like this?

Even the fucking Guardian, normally one hundred per cent onside with any pan-national, globalist, tax-munching organisation like the WHO, United Nations, EU and all the rest of them, concedes they've lost the plot somewhat in recent times. But of course, and typically for the Guardian, blame is attributed to insufficient funding, and the article then goes on to try and exonerate the WHO by blaming Western countries for not following their advice. No surprise there. Still, it's an interesting read:

External Link/Members Only

The problem the WHO and many international organisations of its ilk has is countries powerful countries like the USA made sure they were toothless at their inception.
To function organisations HAVE to play the diplomatic and political game with powerful countries like China and especially the USA. Otherwise, things like America defunding them or withdrawing their membership (à la UNHCR and UNESCO) happens when the organisation makes a ruling they don't like.

[GingerNuts]

I'm not going to split hairs with you. Read the article, and you'll see what happened. There was a delay in the WHO getting on top of this and it has proved to be monumentally expensive.

Besides which, what exactly is the WHO for, if not to be on top of things like this?

It's hardly splitting hairs to say that the governments of individual countries had a large part to play in responding well or poorly to the situation.

The fact you see it that way demonstrates all you're interested in is WHO bashing.

[King Nuts]

It's hardly splitting hairs to say that the governments of individual countries had a large part to play in responding well or poorly to the situation.

The fact you see it that way demonstrates all you're interested in is WHO bashing.

Yes, I get it. Individual countries need to take responsibility.

My point, very simply, was that the WHO did not do the job as promptly as one might expect. You seem to think that's OK and broadly forgiveable. I don't. Difference of opinion, that's all.

[King Nuts]

To function organisations HAVE to play the diplomatic and political game with powerful countries like China and especially the USA.

They do indeed. But as the Grauniad points out, the dude running it right now has not stood up for the organisation's - and thus the world's - best interests.

[bbois77]

Very unfortunate if the WHO failed us all in its original mission statement.

But, if you look 100 miles away across the sea to Taiwan, what did they do?

What all Western democracies should have done and implemented their Armegeddon plan.

They did not and nor should we believe anything the Facist/pseudo-communist dictatorship of China said and assumed the worst.... Go look at their infection and death rates!

Very sad that those who cherish freedom most have been the victims of this pandemic, shame on all the governments who let us all down.... Verging on corporate manslaughter at this stage!!!!

[Hobbit]

Where there is so much money involved there will always be corruption. Simple as that.

[cotton]

The WHO declared a "public health emergency of international concern" on 30 January and called on governments to pursue containment and testing efforts.

Maybe they were a little late with the declaration but the main responsibility rests with the countries who did little in response.

The obvious question that begs is whats the point in us having a body like the WHO if when they do speak out we dont listen to them. 

[Colston36]

Very unfortunate if the WHO failed us all in its original mission statement.

But, if you look 100 miles away across the sea to Taiwan, what did they do?

What all Western democracies should have done and implemented their Armegeddon plan.

They did not and nor should we believe anything the Facist/pseudo-communist dictatorship of China said and assumed the worst.... Go look at their infection and death rates!

Very sad that those who cherish freedom most have been the victims of this pandemic, shame on all the governments who let us all down.... Verging on corporate manslaughter at this stage!!!!

There is a neat philosophical approach to questions like this; it is called compared to what? Would you prefer a slow WHO to no WHO?

[jeanphillipe]

Where there is so much money involved there will always be corruption. Simple as that.

hear, hear 

[GingerNuts]

The obvious question that begs is whats the point in us having a body like the WHO if when they do speak out we dont listen to them. 

The obvious answer is we need a WHO with more power than only being able to ask governments to take action.

[Strawberry]

The obvious answer is we need a WHO with more power than only being able to ask governments to take action.

Perhaps the Grinch will assist, apologies all the Who's reminded me of Whoville.

[winkywanky]

Interesting article.

As you might expect there is some blame everywhere, yet every country will want to play the blame game against others.
It does seem like the WHO were slow to act on China, although China obfuscated and weren't open with them from the outset. The whole WHO situation sounds a bit like FIFA, the cosy old guard blown away by emerging nations wanting to flex their muscles and have 'their man' in the driving seat, and then suspicions of corruption, be it financial or just 'taking sides'.

The world has become ever more globalised and interdependent but hopefully lessons will be learned - if this Coronavirus had been stamped on earlier and more effectively, if China had been more open (within their borders and with everyone else), if Gabblingjesus had played more hardball rather than appeasing those who voted him in, and travel restrictions been introduced from the outset, if the West had taken it a bit more seriously....we probably wouldn't all be where we are now.

I don't think there's any doubt we need a WHO, but it needs to work, it needs to have teeth. Covid-19 seems to have spread more quickly and easily than previous disease outbreaks and this has highlighted it.

I'm not a fan of Trump, but his declaration of withholding money from the WHO while the US holds an investigation (they will of course completely exonerate themselves) will hopefully bring about some change there.

[wylie anchor]

They did not and nor should we believe anything the Facist/pseudo-communist dictatorship of China said and assumed the worst.... Go look at their infection and death rates!

Does anyone believe what the Chinese Government say about their own people? 

[The High Sparrow]

I'm not a fan of Trump, but his declaration of withholding money from the WHO while the US holds an investigation (they will of course completely exonerate themselves) will hopefully bring about some change there.

That is another reason for the WHO not to want to upset a big country in a future crisis

[winkywanky]

It is, but hopefully this will become part of a reality check to bring about change in the way the WHO operates.

[hornyguylondon]

It is, but hopefully this will become part of a reality check to bring about change in the way the WHO operates.

Hopefully but the reality is that there will always be dictatorial countries (China Russia etc) that won't allow the transparency required to allow the WHO to do their fundamental job and respond in an accurate and  timely manner.

[King Nuts]

Even the former head of MI6 thinks the WHO screwed up


External Link/Members Only


Sir John Sawers, 64, spoke out after Donald Trump last night halted American funding for the WHO and accused it of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the initial outbreak of Covid-19.

[winkywanky]

Hopefully but the reality is that there will always be dictatorial countries (China Russia etc) that won't allow the transparency required to allow the WHO to do their fundamental job and respond in an accurate and  timely manner.

That's true, and we see th UN frequently being stymied by the usual suspects (who of course, would say the same about those who would say that).

But with recent events it does seem like the WHO were slow to act, and slow to apportion blame where it should have been. This has gone disastrously, with that as a big part of the reason.

[winkywanky]

And perhaps the WHO should be more open in speaking out about dangerous shit that can lead to outbreaks like Coronavirus...like the Wet markets in China.

They should be publicly shamed over this.

[Doc Holliday]

Even the former head of MI6 thinks the WHO screwed up


External Link/Members Only


Sir John Sawers, 64, spoke out after Donald Trump last night halted American funding for the WHO and accused it of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the initial outbreak of Covid-19.

Behind a paywall?

[The High Sparrow]

Even the former head of MI6 thinks the WHO screwed up


External Link/Members Only


Sir John Sawers, 64, spoke out after Donald Trump last night halted American funding for the WHO and accused it of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the initial outbreak of Covid-19.

another quote from the same article

“It would be better to hold China responsible for those issues rather than the World Health Organisation. The WHO is only as good as its member states, like all UN agencies.”

[King Nuts]

Behind a paywall?

Seems to be on some computers. I don't subscribe to The Times though, and yet I can access it.

Anyway, I lifted the key quote and put it in italics.

[GingerNuts]

Anyway, I lifted the key quote and put it in italics.

You quoted the part where the article said Sir John Sawers spoke out but didn't quote anything he said. The only quote in your post was from Donald Trump.

Here's the full article:

The World Health Organisation’s shortcomings should be looked at but China is not taking responsibility for its failures on coronavirus, a former MI6 chief has said.

Sir John Sawers, 64, spoke out after Donald Trump last night halted American funding for the WHO and accused it of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the initial outbreak of Covid-19 in Hubei province, China.

The US president said the UN agency “willingly took China’s assurances at face value” about the transmission of the virus and “pushed China’s misinformation”.

Sir John, who was previously Britain’s permanent representative at the UN before he led MI6 between 2009 and 2014, acknowledged flaws in the WHO’s passive response to China’s disinformation campaign. He insisted, however, that criticism should be focused on Xi Jinping’s administration.

“There’s deep anger in America over what they see as having been inflicted on us all by China, and China is evading a good deal of responsibility for the origin of the virus, for failing to deal with it initially,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“It would be better to hold China responsible for those issues rather than the World Health Organisation. The WHO is only as good as its member states, like all UN agencies.”

The former spy chief added: “China’s role in the United Nations has steadily grown as China’s power has grown. Heads of UN agencies are wary of offending one of the major powers, but that does not excuse the head of the WHO for failing to stand up for the facts and the data and making the right demands of the Chinese.

“I think the WHO has got serious questions to answer about its performance, but actually anger should be directed against China rather than against the UN agencies.”

Sir John also stressed that the west must co-operate with Beijing to curb the pandemic. “We can’t find a way out of this without working with China,” he said.

Tom Tugendhat, Tory chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, expressed wariness over Mr Trump’s decision to pull funding from the WHO, but acknowledged his frustrations.

“I’m concerned by this. This is of course an important time for the WHO to be doing its job,” he told Sky News this morning.

“I understand his concerns with the way that the WHO has failed to call out China or indeed recognise the success that has been going on in Taiwan among other places.”

Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, took a more hardline approach. “This is [an] indefensible decision, in midst of global pandemic,” he said on Twitter. “So many vulnerable populations rely on WHO - deliberately undermining funding & trust now is shocking. Now is a time for global leadership & unity to save lives, not division and blame!”.

Last year the US provided more than a twelfth of the organisation’s $6 billion funding, making it the biggest contributor.

Senior scientists based in Britain warned that Mr Trump’s move was likely to have damaging consequences.

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, said that his institution’s analysis showed that more than 75 per cent of global funding on coronavirus research had been contributed by American-based funders so far, highlighting the strong influence of the US on global health.

“The WHO role is more taking new knowledge from research and creating policy, guidance, and surveillance,” he said. “But if the USA acts provocatively over global health and biosecurity, it will become a very big problem. The effects would be seen worldwide, but also rebounding back onto the USA where high-threat pathogens would be more likely to occur in future.”

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, had urged Mr Trump against “politicising” the pandemic and said such a move risked “many more bodybags”, when the US president hinted at halting funding earlier this month.

China claimed earlier this week that it had secured a guarantee from Dominic Raab that the UK will not engage in “politicising” the outbreak.

The British foreign secretary was also said to have “fully agreed” with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, during a recent phone call, that the source of the virus required “assessment”, according to a statement published by the Chinese Embassy in London.

Yesterday Lord Hague of Richmond, the former foreign secretary, conceded that the West “don’t have that much of a stick” with which to punish China for its behaviour.

The former Tory leader, 59, added: “Can any of us see China agreeing to and permitting an international investigation into what’s happened here? I think that’s very unlikely and there have been coordinated attempts by China, on social media, to spread ideas that it was somebody else’s fault, including the fault of the United States.”

[King Nuts]

You quoted the part where the article said Sir John Sawers spoke out but didn't quote anything he said. The only quote in your post was from Donald Trump.

Here's the full article:

Sir John was also on R4's Today this morning, and made essentially the same point, that the WHO has questions to answer.

On the other hand, I suspect you're going to keep on about the fact you think the WHO is innocent, Trump's the bad guy etc etc

Anyway, I have made my point, and you can carry on disagreeing, should you wish to.

[mh]

It does seem like the WHO were slow to act on China, although China obfuscated and weren't open with them from the outset.

China wouldn't let WHO researchers in, WHO brass had to use diplomacy and open flattery to gain access.

How is that different from Trump demanding fealty from state governors who are forced to praise Trump to get help? Then Trump runs a video showing how much praise he gets from state governors... 

[King Nuts]

China wouldn't let WHO researchers in, WHO brass had to use diplomacy and open flattery to gain access.

How is that different from Trump demanding fealty from state governors who are forced to praise Trump to get help? Then Trump runs a video showing how much praise he gets from state governors... 

I don't think there is enough time in the world to go through every single piece of media coverage Trump gets, and show how so many clips, quotes and excerpts are misrepresented and twisted.

My own view is that Trump is a guy who should never have been made President, but he did get made President, because the American political system let the US people down. The media's been in a strop ever since, and as a consequence, I take everything they say about him with a pinch of salt.

Maybe, when all this has settled down, he'll have shown himself to be a buffoon. Maybe not.

He's a New Yorker. Manhattan's full of guys like Trump. Bragging, boasting, and all the rest of it. I've met plenty like him over the years. Doesn't play well on the world stage, if you're used to leaders being slippery, smooth and telegenic like Blair and Obama.

But he's pissing all the right people off, so he must be doing at least something right.

[winkywanky]

China wouldn't let WHO researchers in, WHO brass had to use diplomacy and open flattery to gain access.

How is that different from Trump demanding fealty from state governors who are forced to praise Trump to get help? Then Trump runs a video showing how much praise he gets from state governors... 

WHO should out them for this.

That's completely unrelated to Trump being a twat, it's not necessary to take one side over the other, is it? 

Trump is being his usual narcissistic self, suggesting he would not be helpful towards NYC because he doesn't like the Governor for speaking out against his policies, is frankly appalling.

[mh]

I don't think there is enough time in the world to go through every single piece of media coverage Trump gets

You don't need to, I was referring to one aspect of his behaviour, nothing to do with the media coverage he gets. Trump is very open about helping governors who are "nice" to him and ignoring those who don't grovel. Then he shows (in his own video presentation) those governors "being nice" to him as evidence that he is doing a good job. If that's his evidence then it's pretty desperate. Bu the point was that the WHO had to grovel to get access to China - a means to an end.

But he's pissing all the right people off, so he must be doing at least something right.

That's the current Republican attitude in a nutshell. They know he's a disgrace but they know they are only in power (in the Senate) on his coattails.

[petermisc]

I don't think there's any doubt we need a WHO, but it needs to work, it needs to have teeth.

Do you mean the WHO should have the authority to force countries to take action?  If they were to be given authority to direct China, then they would also have authority over all other countries. 

The main problem that the WHO has is that it is essentially sub-servient to its member nation states.  I cannot see that changing any time soon.  We have just left the EU, I really don't see us ceding authority to the WHO.  I certainly don't see either China, Russia or Trump ceding any power to the WHO.

When I see the daily figures, with most country's figures taking a linear trajectory or even levelling out, the one that stands in stark contrast is the USA where it still seems to be accelerating almost exponentially.  Yet Trump is saying that things are improving!

Trump has engineered this bust-up with the WHO for one reason only - so he can blame someone else.  He is already blaming some of the state governors, but he has got to be careful about blaming the Republican governors.  So if it wasn't the governor's fault in the Republican states, who else can he blame?  He has pulled back a bit recently on criticizing China, I suspect because he still wants that trade deal.  So he needs another bogeyman.

[winkywanky]

Do you mean the WHO should have the authority to force countries to take action?  If they were to be given authority to direct China, then they would also have authority over all other countries. 

The main problem that the WHO has is that it is essentially sub-servient to its member nation states.  I cannot see that changing any time soon.  We have just left the EU, I really don't see us ceding authority to the WHO.  I certainly don't see either China, Russia or Trump ceding any power to the WHO.

When I see the daily figures, with most country's figures taking a linear trajectory or even levelling out, the one that stands in stark contrast is the USA where it still seems to be accelerating almost exponentially.  Yet Trump is saying that things are improving!

Trump has engineered this bust-up with the WHO for one reason only - so he can blame someone else.  He is already blaming some of the state governors, but he has got to be careful about blaming the Republican governors.  So if it wasn't the governor's fault in the Republican states, who else can he blame?  He has pulled back a bit recently on criticizing China, I suspect because he still wants that trade deal.  So he needs another bogeyman.

Well of course it goes without saying that all countries should be treated the same by the WHO, and it also goes without saying that some member countries will choose to ignore it if and when it suits them. A bit like the UN.

But having a WHO with no teeth/strong leadership seems largely a waste of time on occasions such as the current one.

As for the USA, they're behind Europe (and also us) in their curve, and at the moment I don't think they're much different from us and Italy? Of course Trump will downplay everything, but it does seem (as ever) as if the real brains behind their response are currently managing to rein in his excesses.

And yes of course, Trump will always look to blame others, just like he has with everything else during his Presidency.

You just have to keep hoping that the grown-ups in the Whitehouse machine carry on filing off the rough edges of his Presidency, to save things going badly tits-up. Almost as if Trump simply adds his bravado, confidence and brashness to an existing and functioning machine.

[Jerk Chicken]

Got to admit I am with OP on this one!

There are some serious questions to be asked when you look at the timeline coming out of China regarding the virus, published statements from WHO at the time Dec-Jan and the meetings with Chinese Health officials giving  the so call assurances which ultimately proved groundless.

You have to ask yourself how on earth did they miss this one.

Frankly when they declared it was a pandemic (having previously stated it was not) it was simply to late for the rest of the world to react.

This failure tells me changes have to be made and the highly paid Director-General should be fired.

[winkywanky]

To be fair I think the term 'Pandemic' (and the point at which it technically applies) is worked out to a pre-determined formula? And I think that formula was applied in the case of Coronavirus.

That's the way I remember it being reported anyway, it was a case of 'anytime soon it'll technically become a pandemic'.

But even before that point the world had already been anticipating it being declared so.

The real damage done was China initially blocking information about the emerging outbreak, and then the WHO apparently being too wishy-washy in dealing with them (no pantomime imagery intended).

[Doc Holliday]

To be fair I think the term 'Pandemic' (and the point at which it technically applies) is worked out to a pre-determined formula? And I think that formula was applied in the case of Coronavirus.

Interestingly there was a formula designed by the WHO involving six phases, but they moved the goalposts in February this year coinciding with Covid19. The six phase formula was apparently criticised following the WHO declaring the 2009 H1N1 flu a pandemic. So they possibly did cock it up?

External Link/Members Only

[winkywanky]

Blimey, so it seems like the WHO stopped using the term Pandemic because it instilled a sense of  which caused (what turned out to be) an overreaction to the 2009 Swine Flu outbreak?

The Geneva-based WHO declared the 2009 H1N1 swine flu outbreak a pandemic, which turned out to be mild, leading to some criticism after pharmaceutical companies rushed development of vaccines and drugs.

WHO declared the novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China, in December a public health emergency of International concern, known as a PHEIC, on Jan. 30. The designation, which remains in place, was aimed at helping countries with weaker health systems shore up their defenses, especially in Africa.

“For the sake of clarification, WHO does not use the old system of 6 phases that ranged from phase 1 (no reports of animal influenza causing human infections) to phase 6 (a pandemic) that some people may be familiar with from H1N1 in 2009,” he said.

Colloquially, pandemic is used to denote the outbreak of a new pathogen that spreads easily person-to-person across the globe, Jasarevic said.

It just sounds like typical 'Corporate' behaviour, if something happened which made you look bad last time, change the name for next time so no comparison can be made  .

[winkywanky]

But to put something in its place which rhymes with FAKE (PHEIC) was probably not a good idea...

[Xtro]

Got to admit I am with OP on this one!

There are some serious questions to be asked when you look at the timeline coming out of China regarding the virus, published statements from WHO at the time Dec-Jan and the meetings with Chinese Health officials giving  the so call assurances which ultimately proved groundless.

You have to ask yourself how on earth did they miss this one.

Frankly when they declared it was a pandemic (having previously stated it was not) it was simply to late for the rest of the world to react.

This failure tells me changes have to be made and the highly paid Director-General should be fired.

"China’s 66-year-old President Xi Jinping lobbied hard for Tedros to get the WHO post July 1, 2017. China has spent billions in Ethiopia, Tedros’s home country, leaving Tedros the perfect WHO candidate since he was beholden to Beijing. Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan served as a WHO goodwill ambassador for many years before Tedros landed the job. Repaying Xi was never in questions for Tedros, who’s confidence kept the U.S. and other U.N. member-states from knowing the extent to the Wuhan epidemic."   
Source - External Link/Members Only

Also - Growing evidence from the military and intel communities indicate that the novel coronavirus AKA SARS CoV-2 or Covid-19 leaked from a bioweapons laboratory in Wuhan’s Institute of Virology.
Source - External Link/Members Only

[petermisc]

Well of course it goes without saying that all countries should be treated the same by the WHO, and it also goes without saying that some member countries will choose to ignore it if and when it suits them. A bit like the UN.
But having a WHO with no teeth/strong leadership seems largely a waste of time on occasions such as the current one.

The comparison with the UN was one that I was going to make, but forgot.  The UN is largely impotent in many spheres, because the USA, USSR or China will not give it the authority.  The WHO is also impotent in certain spheres, because countries like the USA, USSR and China won't allow it.  The WHO cannot insist on sending its own people into China to verify the figures any more than it could in the USA, and it cannot instruct China to impose a lock-down any more than it could instruct Trump to do so.

I would certainly not count the WHO as a waste of time.  It was instrumental in containing the Ebola outbreak, for example.  It does have leverage in those countries where it spends money.  All that Trump cutting the WHO spending will do, is to make the spread of infections from places like Africa more likely, which is the last thing we need right now.

The WHO may not be perfect, but it is still far better than nothing.  I see no point in railing against the WHO for failings that are not in its power to rectify.

As I said, Trump cutting WHO spending is purely a tactic to give him a bogey-man to use in the upcoming election.  It will actually make America (and the rest of the world) a much less safe place.  I hope that the funding will be quietly reinstated, perhaps after the US elections, provided of course that the WHO doesn't dare to criticize the US response to C19.

[petermisc]

Source - External Link/Members Only

Sorry, but I am reluctant to give much credence to a web-site that claims to be completely impartial, but gives absolutely NO information whatsoever as to how they are sourcing the information, who is editing it, or who is paying for it.

[petermisc]

"China’s 66-year-old President Xi Jinping lobbied hard for Tedros to get the WHO post July 1, 2017. China has spent billions in Ethiopia, Tedros’s home country, leaving Tedros the perfect WHO candidate since he was beholden to Beijing.

And perhaps if the USA was spending the same kinds of money in overseas aid budgets, it too might have the same kind of influence.  The plain fact is that the more the USA retreats from the world stage, the less influence it can expect to have.  The USA is not the world super-power that it once used to be.  China's increasing spending power is giving it ever-more clout, and Trump continually cutting the USA's overseas spending is giving it ever-less clout in organisations like the UN and WHO.  No amount of tub-thumping by Trump is going to change simple economic reality.

[Jerk Chicken]

"China’s 66-year-old President Xi Jinping lobbied hard for Tedros to get the WHO post July 1, 2017. China has spent billions in Ethiopia, Tedros’s home country, leaving Tedros the perfect WHO candidate since he was beholden to Beijing. Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan served as a WHO goodwill ambassador for many years before Tedros landed the job. Repaying Xi was never in questions for Tedros, who’s confidence kept the U.S. and other U.N. member-states from knowing the extent to the Wuhan epidemic."   
Source - External Link/Members Only

Also - Growing evidence from the military and intel communities indicate that the novel coronavirus AKA SARS CoV-2 or Covid-19 leaked from a bioweapons laboratory in Wuhan’s Institute of Virology.
Source - External Link/Members Only

So in other words the Chinese President has yet another quango chief in his pockets who jumps when he says so!

Fire the inept plonker. Should do the decent thing and resign but he won't.

Something is just so so wrong when you look at the timeline to world meltdown. Oh and Chinese billionaires are now buying company stocks trading at record lows via their investment arms by the sackful.

[King Nuts]

Sorry, but I am reluctant to give much credence to a web-site that claims to be completely impartial, but gives absolutely NO information whatsoever as to how they are sourcing the information, who is editing it, or who is paying for it.

If you don't like that website, how about Wikipedia?

External Link/Members Only


The relevant bit is here:

In early 2020, Tedros oversaw the world's management of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).[80] In January 2020, Tedros met with Chinese leaders including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and paramount leader Xi Jinping about COVID-19.[81] In the first week of February 2020, he stated that there was no need for the world to take measures that "unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade" such as worldwide travel restrictions.[82] In March, he called the pandemic "the defining global health crisis of our time" and urged countries to increase testing for the virus,[83] as well as warning of the damage the virus could do in poor countries.[84]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tedros was criticised by some government officials and experts and was perceived to have acted slowly in his efforts to stem the epidemic, and as having a too close relationship with the government of China (where the pandemic originated).[85][86]

Tedros and the WHO were also criticised for the delay in declaring COVID a Public Health Emergency of International Concern[65][87] and a pandemic, which was seen as political and was criticized by government officials[85][88] as well as U.S. media outlet The Hill.[89] According to Georgetown University professor Lawrence Gostin, Tedros' strategy on China was a more politically strategic one, rather than a critical approach. Tedros praised China for its containment measures, describing them as a "new standard for outbreak control",[65] a position which was criticised in light of China's efforts to suppress information.[90] A petition on Change.org demanding the resignation of Tedros for his perceived capitulation to Chinese authorities[91] received over 959,000 signatures.[92] Observers also contrasted Tedros' praise for China with the concerns voiced by some countries and organizations over the Chinese government's slow initial response and its resistance to cooperate with international disease-tracking efforts.[86] [/i][/i][/i]

[Xtro]

So in other words the Chinese President has yet another quango chief in his pockets who jumps when he says so!

Fire the inept plonker. Should do the decent thing and resign but he won't.

Something is just so so wrong when you look at the timeline to world meltdown. Oh and Chinese billionaires are now buying company stocks trading at record lows via their investment arms by the sackful.

Follow the money...   

[winkywanky]

The comparison with the UN was one that I was going to make, but forgot.  The UN is largely impotent in many spheres, because the USA, USSR or China will not give it the authority.  The WHO is also impotent in certain spheres, because countries like the USA, USSR and China won't allow it.  The WHO cannot insist on sending its own people into China to verify the figures any more than it could in the USA, and it cannot instruct China to impose a lock-down any more than it could instruct Trump to do so.

I would certainly not count the WHO as a waste of time.  It was instrumental in containing the Ebola outbreak, for example.  It does have leverage in those countries where it spends money.  All that Trump cutting the WHO spending will do, is to make the spread of infections from places like Africa more likely, which is the last thing we need right now.

The WHO may not be perfect, but it is still far better than nothing.  I see no point in railing against the WHO for failings that are not in its power to rectify.

As I said, Trump cutting WHO spending is purely a tactic to give him a bogey-man to use in the upcoming election.  It will actually make America (and the rest of the world) a much less safe place.  I hope that the funding will be quietly reinstated, perhaps after the US elections, provided of course that the WHO doesn't dare to criticize the US response to C19.

I'm very aware of the beneficial and philanthropic work the WHO do all over the Third World, which is why I was careful to say "having a WHO with no teeth/strong leadership seems largely a waste of time on occasions such as the current one."

Yes, definitely, we're all better off having a WHO than not having one. But the current management don't seem to have quite the same spunk as the one which dealt with (I believe) the SARS outbreak in China in the early noughties, where the female Norweigan Head (can't remember her name) of the WHO took a much more proactive role.

[webpunter]

"China’s 66-year-old President Xi Jinping lobbied hard for Tedros to get the WHO post July 1, 2017. China has spent billions in Ethiopia, Tedros’s home country, leaving Tedros the perfect WHO candidate since he was beholden to Beijing. Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan served as a WHO goodwill ambassador for many years before Tedros landed the job. Repaying Xi was never in questions for Tedros, who’s confidence kept the U.S. and other U.N. member-states from knowing the extent to the Wuhan epidemic."   
Source - External Link/Members Only

Also - Growing evidence from the military and intel communities indicate that the novel coronavirus AKA SARS CoV-2 or Covid-19 leaked from a bioweapons laboratory in Wuhan’s Institute of Virology.
Source - External Link/Members Only

External Link/Members Only
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Extracts below - frightening reporting

Is the World Health Organization fit for purpose?

A/
"The World Health Organisation appeared to take declarations and denials made by the Chinese Communist party about the initial outbreak in Wuhan at face value. The WHO, one of the organisations which was created to uphold this order, has shown itself to be ineffective" - Andrew Foxall, writing in The Spectator, March 28th.

Amid the deepening crisis of a coronavirus pandemic, which at the time of writing has claimed almost 40,000 lives, questions are being asked about the credibility of the WHO, and particularly about the integrity of its Ethiopian director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus"

B/
Tedros himself has been widely criticised for his support of China’s initial response to COVID-19, one of denial and censorship, and delaying, possibly on the direction of Beijing, declaring it to be a global pandemic even though it clearly met the criteria of transmission between people, high fatality rates and worldwide spread. The declaration was eventually made on March 12th by which time no amount of obfuscation could detract from a crisis in which in Europe alone there had been reported more than 20,000 confirmed cases and almost 1,000 deaths.

[& last but by no means least]

C/
This is not the first time that Tedros appears to pay back for the support shown to him. Shortly after being elevated to the director-generalship in 2017 announced that he had chosen the ruthless dictator Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to serve as a WHO Goodwill Ambassador to help tackle non-communicable diseases for Africa, claiming that Zimbabwe was "a country that places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide health care to all".
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The WHO & Tedros in particular make FIFA look totally above board & and upstanding individuals & an upstanding organization
Appointing Mugabe as a Goodwill Ambassador WTF 
Me thinks debate on the subject of links between the WHO & China is going run & run.  Lets see where we end up