New Delhi: 58 countries, including India which has been hit by the coronavirus, have signed a resolution asking for an assessment of the World Health Organization’s response on the covid-19 pandemic. 27 European Union members are also part of these 58 countries.
These 27 European Union members are heading the draft resolution and will be executed at the upcoming World Health Assembly on Monday where the covid-19 response will be demanded from the WHO.
The outline of the resolution states an initiation “at the earliest appropriate moment to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19”.
“We are deeply concerned by the morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the negative impacts on physical and mental health and social well-being, the negative impacts on economy and society and the consequent exacerbation of inequalities within and between countries,” read the draft.
It added, “We express solidarity to all countries affected by the pandemic, as well as condolences and sympathy to all the families of the victims of COVID-19.”
In the resolution, timelines for the “recommendations the WHO made to improve global pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacity” are also to be evaluated.
The World Health Organization were going to declare a global health emergency on 23rd January but delayed so as its director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hadn’t returned from China. This went on for a week after which, the same was announced to the countries and the general population.
This delay costed a 10 time fold in the number of cases of coronavirus and had already spread to over 18 countries.
Moreover, until the late of February, the WHO did not support or speak in favour of any country to compel travel restrictions to China, according to Health Policy Watch.
“When countries began evacuating their citizens from Wuhan, the COVID-19 epicentre, the WHO said it did not favour this step”.
It had not advocated for retrieving citizens from different countries stranded in Wuhan in an attempt to save the people of their respective nations.
After entering many other countries and taking the lives of thousands already, the global health body finally declared coronavirus as a pandemic on March 11.
The WHO has come under criticism not only from the US for its response being “China-centric”, but also from other countries.
