Last week's World Health Organization meetings highlighted its critical global mission “to build a better, healthier future for people all over the world.” Whether it's combating HIV, eradicating smallpox or stopping the spread of tuberculosis, the WHO has worked hand-in-hand with private- and public-sector stakeholders to improve global health for nearly 70 years. Recent WHO actions, however, threaten this effective formula by shutting out key stakeholders and diverting the organization's focus from evidence-based problem-solving to narrowly tailored ideology.
The WHO in Geneva had a golden opportunity to course correct during its Executive Board meeting, and to fulfill its Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's vision to “transform WHO into the Organization that the world needs it to be.” It could have shifted its agenda from confrontation back to collaboration, from narrow, top-down policies back to practical solutions. Instead, its discussions showed a continued trajectory troubling to those who care about the organization and its mission.
