Why the WHO is vital in the fight against Covid-19

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been a central figure leading the response efforts. At the same time, the organisation has come under increased criticism, and even had portions of its funding halted by the United States. As the pandemic continues to grow-with over 3,000,000 confirmed cases and over 200,000 deaths globally - and criticism of the WHO deepens, it is essential to contextualise the organisation's response within its mandate and to review the actions it has taken to curtail the disease's spread.
Notification and monitoring
The WHO was first notified of several cases of pneumonia with an unknown origin in Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019, via the International Health Regulations (IHR). Five days later, on January 5, the WHO published news of the outbreak and stated they would continue to closely monitor the situation.
As the number of cases of the novel coronavirus grew, and reports of exportations to other countries increased, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convened the first meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee on January 22-23. While a PHEIC (public health emergency of international concern) was not declared following the first committee meeting, the director-general reconvened the committee days later and declared a PHEIC.
Early on, Dr Tedros designated the Covid-19 outbreak as a priority for the WHO. As with previous outbreaks, he visited affected countries and spoke with national governments and responders. On January 28, Dr Tedros and a team from the WHO travelled to China and met with President Xi Jinping to discuss the outbreak and China's response. The WHO remained engaged with China to monitor and report on the situation while pleading with other countries bolster their preparedness.
Country preparedness and capacity building
Many countries lack basic medical and public health infrastructures, critical supplies, and basic response trainings necessary to prepare for and respond to Covid-19 cases on their own. The WHO provides technical training courses on Covid-19 in 13 languages, and has reported approximately 1.2 million enrollments. It has shipped critical supplies to countries worldwide, such as 1.5 million diagnostic kits that went to 126 countries, and millions of masks, gowns, gloves, and personal protective equipment to 133 countries.
In collaboration with the World Economic Forum, the WHO set up a Pandemic Supply Chain Network which is a public private collaboration to address global supply chain issues and the scarcity of essential equipment. The WHO, working with the UN system and other partners - including Emergency Medical Teams and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network - provide technical expertise to countries to assist their response efforts and have developed a Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to guide partners in operationalising response plans.
The WHO has also conducted several country missions to assess national capacity and support efforts to strengthen preparedness and response capabilities. It regularly liaises with donors and has established the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund where countries, organisations, and individuals can donate.
Combatting the infodemic
The nature of the pandemic has meant that the WHO has had to go beyond addressing typical health concerns and quickly address the rising infodemic. While misinformation has been an issue in previous outbreaks, the level of misinformation associated with Covid-19 has been much higher.
The WHO holds regular press briefings to provide updates, and launched a platform - the Information Network for Epidemics (EPI-WIN) - to share tailored information and public health advice. The WHO also partnered with WhatsApp, Viber, and social media companies to directly combat misinformation.
It is clear that the WHO has been involved in almost all aspects of the response to combat the pandemic. While some of the criticism levied at the WHO does not take into account the organisation's mandate and operational capabilities as defined by its constitution and the IHR, other concerns of possible missteps in WHO's response have shown there are still areas for improvement and ways to refine the response.
As with any outbreak response, an after-action review should be conducted to assess WHO's performance and highlight these areas for improvement and lessons learned to further enhance the organisation's ability to coordinate and effectively respond to future large-scale outbreaks. The existence of an international organisation like the WHO that coordinates global health issues is vital in stopping any pandemic. The WHO's steadfast voice advocating for solidarity in the response has contributed to protecting the most vulnerable and helped save lives, and we need it to continue to do so now, and during future outbreaks.
Lucia Mullen is an analyst at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, where part of her research focuses on global health policy. -IPI Global Observatory