WHO’s to blame? World Health Organization under scrutiny over its handling of coronavirus

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World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a daily press briefing on COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, at the WHO headquaters in Geneva. (AFP)
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Updated 01 August 2020
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WHO’s to blame? World Health Organization under scrutiny over its handling of coronavirus

  • UN agency responsible for global public health has lost its main source of budgetary support
  • WHO faces challenge of convincing donor countries it did not cover up the spread of the virus

DUBAI: Founded 72 years ago, with its headquarters in the Swiss city of Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible for promoting global public health, keeping the world safe and serving the vulnerable.

But as the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ravages the US and many other countries after originating in China and killing thousands there, the UN agency finds itself at the center of a heated argument, with both its credibility and financial health on the line.

Last week, US President Donald Trump fired the opening salvo when he announced he was going to halt US funding to the WHO pending further evaluation.

At more than $400 million, Washington’s contribution provided 15 percent of the WHO’s 2018-19 budget. By contrast, China, the second largest economy in the world, gave about $86 million during the same period.

The UN agency, which has 194 member states, stands accused by Trump of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the spread of the coronavirus, and of having failed in its basic duty.

In response, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said the impact of a withdrawal of US funding will be reviewed and the help of the agency’s partners sought to fill “any financial gaps” and ensure “uninterrupted work.”

“The WHO is not only fighting COVID-19,” he said. “We’re also working to address polio, measles, malaria, Ebola, HIV, tuberculosis, malnutrition, cancer, diabetes, mental health and many other diseases and conditions.”

Ever since the epidemic appeared in China, Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian microbiologist and the first non-physician and African in the role, has become the WHO’s public face, in the same way that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US immunologist and long-time director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has become “America’s doctor.”

However, simmering tension between the WHO and influential Republican lawmakers has put Ghebreyesus in an awkward position, with calls being made by policy pundits for his resignation.

Trump of course is hardly the first public figure to blame the WHO of failing to adequately assess the outbreak when it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Among the many actions of the WHO that have raised eyebrows is a tweet on Jan. 14 claiming that preliminary Chinese investigations had found “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission” of the coronavirus.

WHO experts were not allowed to visit China and investigate the epidemic until the total confirmed cases in the country had crossed the 40,000 mark on Feb.10.

So, did the WHO cover up for China? Dr. Theodore Karasik, a senior advisor at Gulf State Analytics in Washington DC, feels both the WHO and China could have undoubtedly done a better job.

“Speed and efficiency are two words that were not practiced at the beginning of the outbreak,” he told Arab News, alluding to the WHO’s many contentious public statements and tweets during the initial stage of the pandemic.

“Not only was the WHO behind the curve because of its refusal to describe COVID-19 as a pandemic, but China is also at fault (for) attempting to cover up the extent of the outbreak.”

He said China “absolutely” should have restricted travel sooner, but other countries as well should have taken preventive measures.

“There is plenty of blame to go around,” Karasik said. “Once again the world is reacting instead of being proactive.

“Funding for the WHO is key at the moment because of the global health emergency. Bureaucratic problems can be taken care of after the crisis is over.”




A staff member checks the body temperature of a student at the entrance of a school as students return to school after the term opening was delayed due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. (AFP)

Once that time arrives, Karasik said, the world could focus on how to restructure the WHO, how to define a pandemic and how to make the UN agency more efficient.

Whether US politicians are willing to hold their fire until the coronavirus storm has passed is an open question, though.

Michael Singh, managing director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said there was a firm consensus in the US capital that China failed to act on early indications of a brewing outbreak, and even took steps to suppress the information.

“While other governments were also slow in marshaling their responses, China’s failure is singular in that it may have cost the world the chance to avert this pandemic altogether by halting the virus spread before it began,” he told Arab News.

“There is far less agreement in Washington and internationally, however, regarding to what extent the WHO should share any blame apportioned to China, though certainly the WHO did itself few favors with its frequent, florid praise for Beijing in forums like the WEF (World Economic Forum) and elsewhere.”

But is cutting WHO funding the best choice at this point of time for the US?

In Singh’s opinion, what is needed is a critical assessment of the WHO’s performance in addressing the COVID-19 outbreak in China and a determination of what reforms Washington and other donors should demand in light of the pandemic.

However, he added: “It will be difficult to gain international support for this amid the pandemic, when most governments — including key US allies whose support would be needed for such an effort — are focused first and foremost on halting the virus’ spread and mitigating its economic impact.”

Indeed, many experts are questioning the wisdom of Trump’s decision to cut funds to the WHO just when it has issued an appeal for $675 million to help battle the pandemic.

“It is unfair to blame one side or the other before an investigation is carried out into the matter,” said Ahmed Al-Astad, a scientific adviser at TRENDS Research & Advisory, an Abu Dhabi-based think tank.

“It is difficult to believe that the WHO covered up, even though it may have been slow to respond. This pandemic caught everyone by surprise, and it is this lack of preparedness that should be blamed.”

But should the WHO have supported travel restrictions much earlier than it did?

In Al-Astad’s view: “The US, China, the WHO, and a lot of other countries around the world were caught unprepared. The blame game seems to be more out of frustration than any concrete evidence.”

As the pandemic continues to cause global havoc, in hindsight “travel restrictions (in China) should have been implemented a little earlier,” according to Al-Astad.

“That would have really helped considering the tremendous amount of connectivity around the world today and there is no other way to stop the spread of this virus. Even if this was done a week earlier, things could have been different.”

While China could have done a better job, the virus quickly spread far and wide, and some countries, especially in Europe, could not prepare themselves adequately, according to Al-Astad.

“I don’t think it would have made much difference if some of these countries learned two weeks or a month before China revealed the details,” he told Arab News.

“On the other hand, there are examples of countries that reacted quickly and saved their people from a major health crisis.




Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (L) Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (R) arrive to attend an update on the situation regarding the COVID-19. (AFP)

“The UAE, for instance, imposed a lockdown in time and prevented the virus from spreading very rapidly.”

Whatever the best course of action may be, Al-Astad said cutting funding to the WHO could push it “deeper” into China’s grip.

“The WHO is a global body and its performance, or lack of it, should not be seen from the prism of one country’s reaction,” he said.

“The need of the hour is to strengthen the funding and resources of the WHO, not the other way round.”


Uganda’s president arrives in S.Sudan as crisis deepens

Updated 8 sec ago
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Uganda’s president arrives in S.Sudan as crisis deepens

  • The Ugandan leader, whose military was invited into South Sudan last month to help secure the capital, did not refer directly to the crisis in public remarks at the airport in Juba

NAIROBI: Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni arrived in neighboring South Sudan on Thursday, in the highest level mission there since clashes and the detention of the vice president triggered regional fears of a return to civil war.
Museveni was met at the airport by South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, whose administration has accused First Vice President Riek Machar of stoking rebellion and put him under house arrest.
The Ugandan leader, whose military was invited into South Sudan last month to help secure the capital, did not refer directly to the crisis in public remarks at the airport in Juba.
The visit follows mediation missions by the African Union and an East African regional body this week to de-escalate the crisis.
Museveni told reporters he would hold talks “aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing cooperation between our two nations.”
Kiir said the two leaders would discuss “current political developments in the country.”
The standoff between Kiir and Machar, who led opposing forces in a 2013-2018 civil war that killed hundreds of thousands, has prompted the UN to warn that the world’s young nation could be on the brink of all-out conflict along ethnic lines.
Uganda backed Kiir’s forces during the civil war.
It sent troops last month amid fighting between South Sudan’s military and an ethnic Nuer militia in Upper Nile state in the northeast.
Machar’s predominantly Nuer forces were allied with the White Army militia during the civil war, but his party denies government accusations of ongoing links.
Uganda’s military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, also Museveni’s son, said on Tuesday he had ordered Ugandan forces to stop attacking the White Army so long as it ceases offensives against Ugandan troops.
Machar’s party says the Ugandan intervention violates South Sudan’s arms embargo.
Analysts say Kiir, 73, appears to be attempting to shore up his position amid discontent within his political camp and speculation about his succession plan.

 


Italy plans $22 million for migrant repatriations

Updated 5 min 13 sec ago
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Italy plans $22 million for migrant repatriations

  • The ministry said the plan would benefit “around 3,300 of the most vulnerable migrants, carrying out their repatriation to their countries of origin sustainably and effectively”

ROME: Italy plans to invest 20 million euros ($22 million) in a new project to help Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia send irregular migrants from their territories back to the migrants’ countries of origin.
The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to cut irregular migration to Italy’s shores from North Africa — the majority of whom depart from Libya and Tunisia.
However, many migrants who depart hail from other countries, especially sub-Saharan African countries.
Italy’s new plan “focuses on strengthening the institutional and administrative-managerial capacities of the partner countries,” with the involvement of 400 officials, Italy’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Irregular migration would be better addressed “through the improvement and development of assisted voluntary repatriations from Algeria, Libya and Tunisia to the countries of origin,” it said.
It said the project would collaborate with the International Organization for Migration to ensure migrants’ rights.
The ministry said the plan would benefit “around 3,300 of the most vulnerable migrants, carrying out their repatriation to their countries of origin sustainably and effectively.”
It said Italy’s Agency for Development Cooperation, which helps carry out development activities, would provide technical support.
The agency has also been charged with another plan targeted at the “socio-economic reintegration of returning migrants,” tapping Italian companies and civil society groups, it said.
Most migrants arriving in Italy via the Mediterranean depart from Libya and Tunisia.
Italy has agreements with both countries to provide funding in exchange for help stemming departures.
On Wednesday, Libyan authorities said they would suspend the work of 10 international humanitarian groups, including Doctors Without Borders, accusing them of a plan to “settle migrants” from other parts of Africa in the country.

 


Driver of car in Amsterdam explosion may have been attempting suicide, police say

Updated 43 min 39 sec ago
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Driver of car in Amsterdam explosion may have been attempting suicide, police say

  • Police arrested the man, a 50-year old Dutchman, on suspicion of arson
  • Nobody was hurt in the incident except the suspect

AMSTERDAM: Dutch police said they believed the driver of a car that caught fire on Thursday following an explosion in central Amsterdam may have been attempting to commit suicide.
Police arrested the man, a 50-year old Dutchman, on suspicion of arson. Nobody was hurt in the incident except the suspect.
“Police detectives are keeping all scenarios open but have strong suspicions that the man wanted to take his own life,” police said on the social media platform X.


Earlier, police said camera footage had shown the fire was caused by an explosion, which happened among a crowd of people on Amsterdam’s busy Dam Square.
Images on social media show a man with burning clothes close to a small red car with flames billowing from its windows.
Police are seen extinguishing the flames on the man before taking him into custody.
Police sealed off the square while explosives experts investigated the vehicle. It was later removed from the square.
Last week, a man injured five people near Dam Square in a stabbing rampage. Police identified the suspect in that incident as a 30-year-old Ukrainian national from the eastern Donetsk region, who prosecutors said had acted with terrorist intent.

 


University of Birmingham students facing disciplinary hearing over pro-Palestine activism

Updated 03 April 2025
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University of Birmingham students facing disciplinary hearing over pro-Palestine activism

  • Student Antonia Listrat: ‘Funding genocide is violent; protesting genocide is peaceful’
  • Legal rights group sounds alarm over ‘nationwide crackdown’ on solidarity with Palestinians

LONDON: Two pro-Palestine students at the UK’s University of Birmingham are facing disciplinary proceedings over their activism, with a major legal rights group sounding the alarm over a “nationwide crackdown” on solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The European Legal Support Centre submitted legal documents to the university’s misconduct panel on behalf of the two students, Mariyah Ali and Antonia Listrat.

Amid the war in Gaza and sweeping pro-Palestine solidarity at institutions across the UK, the two students had demanded that their university divest from arms companies supplying the Israeli military.

Ali and Listrat face a disciplinary hearing on April 7, with the ELSC urging the university to dismiss the proceedings.

Coventry MP Zarah Sultana labeled the university’s move “an assault on democratic rights,” while the decision was questioned by UN Special Rapporteur Gina Romero, who highlighted “harassment, intimidation and reprisals” against the students at the university.

The pair have been supported by the university’s student body, which elected Listrat as guild president and Ali as ethnic minorities officer.

Ali said: “The disciplinary process against Antonia and me is a blatant attempt to suppress dissent and silence the wider student movement.

“This authoritarian crackdown is not just an attack on our right to protest — it is a display of institutional Islamophobia and bureaucratic repression.

“The student movement for Palestine is stronger than ever. Instead of charging students, the University of Birmingham must focus on divesting from companies complicit in genocide and war crimes.”

The student union also passed a motion supporting pro-Palestine solidarity that was subsequently blocked by union trustees.

By taking punitive measures against the students, the university is “contradicting the democratic will of students,” the ELSC said.

Anna Ost, the center’s senior legal officer, added: “We are deeply concerned that the university’s intention and effect in targeting these two students is to dissuade the wider university community from speaking out for Palestine.

“The university needs to change its approach, drop the disciplinaries, and demonstrate that fundamental freedoms are still promoted on its campus.”

The targeting of the students is part a wider crackdown on pro-Palestine activism across the UK in the wake of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Since October 2023, at least 28 universities across the UK have disciplined more than 113 students for activism, a joint investigation by Sky News and Liberty Investigates found.

The ELSC warned that the campus crackdowns, which have involved police and private security, is creating a “chilling effect” that “sets a dangerous precedent for campus democracy.”

British universities are legally bound to protect freedom of expression under the education and human rights acts, it added, warning that the University of Birmingham is “violating these obligations by penalizing students for their political beliefs.”

The center called on the university to dismiss the charges against the students and uphold freedom of speech, expression and assembly on campus.

Listrat said protesting is “an integral part of campus life” that signifies a “healthy and progressive society.”

She added: “As far-right rhetoric rises throughout the world, we need to make a huge effort to protect our rights and uphold international law and morality.

“Enabling genocide and profiting from human rights violations is quite a violent stance that the University of Birmingham has taken. Funding genocide is violent; protesting genocide is peaceful.”


German military to order exploding drones for first time, sources say

Updated 03 April 2025
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German military to order exploding drones for first time, sources say

  • Russia and Ukraine have fielded such single-use drones
  • The procurement of armed drones has been controversial in Germany

BERLIN: The German military will be armed with loitering munitions, or exploding drones, for the first time, two defense ministry sources said on Thursday, as Berlin tries to catch up with a technology that has shown its destructive power in Ukraine.
Both Russia and Ukraine have fielded such single-use drones, which cruise toward their target before plummeting at velocity and detonating on impact.
But the procurement of armed drones has been controversial in Germany, with some politicians associating them with targeted extrajudicial killings by US forces in Afghanistan.
It took years of heated debate before parliament agreed in 2022 to enable a large drone such as the Heron TP, which flies at much higher altitudes, to carry arms.
However, military upgrades are more urgent now for Germany, amid the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine and doubts about the future of US military protection.
Last month, parliament approved plans for a defense spending surge worth hundreds of billions of euros.
Contracts with two companies for a first batch of exploding drones will be signed in the coming days, the sources said, declining to name the companies. The army, air force and navy will test them in the following months.
“The use of drones and the defense against drones is crucial for the survival of our troops on the modern battlefield, that’s something we learned in Ukraine,” said one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Each soldier must be capable of operating drones, just as today, everybody knows how to use binoculars.”
Germany will aim to sign longer-term contracts by the end of the year for a larger number of drones, shortening the period for introducing new weapons which usually takes years.
As drone technology evolves rapidly, the deals will specify that companies supply a limited number initially for training purposes, and that they may be asked later to supply a larger number of the latest models at short notice, if needed.
“There’s no use in purchasing thousands of drones ... only to realize they are outdated by the time we need them,” one of the sources said.