The World Health Organisation declared the new coronavirus an international emergency six months ago, a decision that was attacked at the time for being too late. Those criticisms of the WHO being slow in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have continued.
“The WHO is not purely a technical organisation, it is very much a diplomatic organisation,” said Keiji Fukuda, a clinical professor at the University of Hong Kong who previously worked for the WHO and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. “It has political roles to play and often I think it is fair to say it’s slow.”
Covid-19 was declared a public health emergency of international concern on January 30 and on March 11 the WHO designated it a pandemic. “People complain about the slowness of the WHO in announcing a pandemic … [but] the PHEIC is much more important than calling something a pandemic,” said McLaws, who is also part of a WHO expert advisory panel for the Covid-19 response.
Story continuesChina, South Korea and Australia were among the countries touted as success stories in controlling the spread of Covid-19. However, even those countries have had a resurgence of cases.
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