The world needs a better World Health Organisation
The WHO has done well against covid-19. But it needs more muscle and more money
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THE GLASS and metal headquarters of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN’s health agency, contrast starkly with their bucolic surroundings in the hills around Geneva. The only dabs of colour are the flags of its 194 member-states. For now the American flag still flutters beside the rest. But if President Donald Trump has his way, by July 2021 it will be gone. America is the WHO’s biggest donor. A tenth of its staff are American. Its influence runs through the agency, right down to the peanut-butter cups in the staff vending machine.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline "What’s wrong with the WHO"
From the September 10th 2020 edition
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