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The revealed recordings show that the World Health Organization (WHO) has lagged behind in handling the pandemic, regarding many countries as a “reluctant virus research laboratory.”
The recording was compiled by the Associated Press (AP) from January to April, announced on 11/11. Consequently, WHO experts deliberately wait to see which countries have effective anti-epidemic effects. Yet in public, WHO still praises governments for their response to the pandemic.
According to the AP, the WHO’s wavering chain of reactions began with China. General Manager Tedros Adhanom and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in January, but information about the outbreak was scant until February.
On February 1, a passenger on the luxury yacht Diamond Princess tested positive for nCoV. At the stop in Yokohama, another 10 people were confirmed to have Covid-19. Japanese officials immediately blocked the ship and 3,711 passengers.
“We must be careful not to overreact,” said Michael Ryan, WHO’s emergency program director at the time. But by February 10, the number of infections on board doubled overnight.
Dr Thomas Grein, WHO Acute Event Management Team Leader, reported that the organization discussed this translation group, but did not get much helpful information.
The Diamond Princess yacht is docked in the port city of Yokohama, near Tokyo, on February 21. Image: AP
Although the situation worsens, scientists believe that the Diamond Princess case may help to understand the transmission pattern of Covid-19. “Unfortunately, but This is a useful opportunity to study the natural origin of the virus.“Ryan said.
A few days later, Japanese disease expert Dr. Kentaro Iwata came on board. According to him, the situation here is “completely chaotic”. Soon after, the WHO announced that more than half of the cases outside of China were passengers and crew members aboard the Diamond Princess.
“Obviously, on that cruise, things are very bad and the WHO should declare it,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborative Center on Human Rights and Public Health Law at Georgetown University. When countries are going in the wrong direction, WHO must announce it. “
During February and March, Covid-19 broke out in Korea, Singapore, Iran, and elsewhere. The virus also spread to Italy, turning Europe into an epidemic.
In the recording of the internal meeting, officials WHO is concerned about the lack of information from EU member states. Dr. Thomas Gein admits that the WHO has “failed miserably” in its attempt to learn more about the outbreaks. On February 26, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom said: “One of the biggest challenges we face is that many countries have not yet shared data.”
However, on March 8, on personal Twitter, Tedros wrote: “The Italian government and people are taking bold and courageous steps to curb the spread of the virus and protect the country.”
Three days later, he declared that Covid-19 was an epidemic, in part because some countries “had not acted promptly.”
Dr. Lawrence Gostin emphasized that WHO should have an obligation to publicly report a list of countries that do not share data. “If a country does not provide enough important epidemiological or biological information, WHO and the world will be in the dark for an outbreak,” he said.
WHO leaders at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, February 2020. Image: AP
In secret meetings, the WHO also complained about a shortage of medical supplies in the West. Mr. Ryan told his colleagues: “We had a terrible situation with personal protective equipment. Supplies were arriving in France and we lost access.” He said WHO should put pressure on countries to avoid similar situations.
When a number of European countries implemented the social gap in March, the WHO perceived that England did not act in a similar way, when the Premier League matches were still developing normally. After the UK announced that the country was moving towards a “public immunity” approach, Dr Ryan said this anti-epidemic strategy “has problems”.
“Hundreds of thousands, millions of elderly people will be infected and there will be many deaths,” he said. But nevertheless, The WHO considers it to be a “major ecological study”, documenting the most effective methods to deal with a pandemic.
“It’s creepy, but realistic,” Ryan said.
One of the limitations of the WHO is its inability to independently investigate each country. Instead, the health agency relies on behind-the-scenes negotiations and the cooperation of member states.
As Covid-19 spread, the WHO often avoided asking for or condemning countries’ reactions, although major budget donors such as Japan, France, and the United Kingdom have repeatedly made mistakes.
Some public health experts believe the WHO’s lack of influence has inadvertently prompted countries to adopt a policy that exacerbates the outbreak and affects joint efforts to repel the virus.
Professor Sophie Harman, from Queen Mary University’s faculty of international politics in London, said the WHO is losing its power by not talking about suspicious actions in its member countries.
Many other experts believe that it is not politically prudent if the WHO is too direct to criticize. Germany and France have recently proposed giving the body more power.
However, the fact that WHO openly questions Member States is not without precedent. During the 2003 SARS epidemic, the agency threatened to close its office in China on suspicion that the country was hiding the cases. The organization has also called on Nigeria to address the problem of the polio boycott and accused Tanzania of not sharing enough information about the Ebola epidemic last year.
Assessing the role of the WHO in the pandemic is now very important, as the agency is tasked with helping buy, sell and distribute the Covid-19 vaccine around the world. Some countries like the United States and Russia have refused to join this program.
Thuc Linh (According to the AP)
