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As global health experts, politicians, civil society organizations, and six of the G7 leaders rally to support the World Health Organization (WHO; https:// bit.ly/3gP9Dyj) and counter the US administration's discrediting of the agency and suspension of funding, a moment of reflection is warranted.
Undoubtedly, WHO is a crucial player (https://bit.ly/ 2U9s7Qh) in steering us through the COVID-19 pandemic, cooperating with member countries in developing pandemic preparedness plans (including for subsequent waves of the disease); gathering, analyzing, and disseminating critical epidemiological data; conveying sound, scientifically grounded policies and advice; establishing guidelines around testing, physical distancing, and other public health measures; setting norms on data collection and information sharing; and supporting research on drugs and vaccines. Ifproperly funded and granted the power by member countries, WHO has the potential to amp up its transport ofpersonal protective equipment and other essential supplies to protect frontline workers and serve as an international coordinator for the ethical and equitable distribution of diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, and equipment. As per the International Health Regulations, WHO is empowered to declare a public health emergency of international concern, as it did on January 30 regarding COVID-19 (https://bit.ly/2XvtQkU), and make a "real-time" response.
Did WHO make any missteps? The forthcoming "impartial, independent, comprehensive" review (https://bit.ly/2AHgQzW) of WHO's response to COVID19 will reveal these, but WHO's restraint was predetermined from the get-go by its very decisionmaking structure, constrained reach (reliance on country reporting and compliance with norms, lack of enforcement mechanisms), and financial dependence on donors operating in their own interest.
Persistent questions remain around China's delayed information sharing with WHO (https://bit.ly/2Xych3I). That said, once Chinese authorities officially confirmed person-toperson transmission, WHO worked with China in warning the world of this public health emergency of international concern and recommending extraordinary measures to contain it.1
On another front, under international pressure, China revised its COVID-19 death toll upward (https://cnn.it/ 2XxEwzG) to correct inaccuracies. By contrast, the belated, gruesome accounting of home and nursing home deaths in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, and the United States, among other countries, is excused, or at least contextualized within current extenuating circumstances.
Furthermore, countries that heeded WHO's advice- including Germany, Vietnam, Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand, South Korea, and Finland -benefited from its guidance. (Taiwan, as a non-WHO member, effectively anticipated...