Independent panel slams China and WHO over Covid-19 response
Long-awaited report says Beijing and the UN health agency acted too slowly to stop the spread
China and the World Health Organization (WHO) should have taken action more quickly and decisively to curb Covid-19 outbreaks when the coronavirus first emerged, an independent review has concluded.
The Switzerland-based Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR) says that “public health measures could have been applied more forcefully by local and national health authorities in China” after cases were first detected in Wuhan at the start of last year.
In a newly published interim report, the panel also criticises the WHO “for its delays in sounding the alarm, and called for reforms to the UN agency”, says CNN.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The WHO did not declare an international emergency until 30 January. And the organisation waited until 11 March to declare the outbreak a pandemic - by which point, more than 118,000 cases had been confirmed in a total of 114 countries, with more than 4,000 Covid-related deaths.
“Although the term pandemic is neither used nor defined in the International Health Regulations (2005), its use does serve to focus attention on the gravity of a health event,” the report says.
But “the global pandemic alert system is not fit for purpose”, and “the WHO has been underpowered to do the job”, according to the report authors, who are calling for a “global reset”.
The panel - co-chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and ex-Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf - will present their findings in full to health ministers from the WHO’s 194 member states in May.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The health agency has already faced criticism from other world powers over its pandemic response.
The US has accused the WHO of being “China-centric”, while European countries led by France and Germany have “pushed for addressing the WHO’s shortcomings on funding, governance and legal powers”, Reuters reports.
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
7 beautiful towns to visit in Switzerland during the holidays
The Week Recommends Find bliss in these charming Swiss locales that blend the traditional with the modern
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Werewolf bill
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
'This needs to be a bigger deal'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
No more bugging: how Egypt became certified malaria-free
Under the radar It was a century-long effort
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Long Covid: study shows damage to brain's 'control centre'
The Explainer Research could help scientists understand long-term effects of Covid-19 as well as conditions such as MS and dementia
By The Week UK Published
-
Baby food is not as healthy as it should be
Under the Radar Labels are leaving things out. And brands are highlighting only what they want to.
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
FDA OKs new Covid vaccine, available soon
Speed read The CDC recommends the new booster to combat the widely-circulating KP.2 strain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Mpox: how dangerous is new health emergency?
Today's Big Question Spread of potentially deadly sub-variant more like early days of HIV than Covid, say scientists
By The Week UK Published
-
WHO declares mpox a global health emergency
Speed Read An outbreak of the viral disease formerly known as monkeypox continues to spread in Africa
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
What is POTS and why is it more common now?
The explainer The condition affecting young women
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Brexit, Matt Hancock and black swans: five takeaways from Covid inquiry report
The Explainer UK was 'unprepared' for pandemic and government 'failed' citizens with flawed response, says damning report
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published