The World Health Organization’s Role in Combatting the COVID-19 Pandemic Essay Example

The novel coronavirus outbreak of covid-19 that first made its appearance came as sudden news from Wuhan China, during the late months of 2019. Its sudden appearance has caused a global impact, spreading quickly around the world, infecting and killing millions in its path. The covid-19 disease soon proved itself as a global health threat causing difficulties to hospitals, governments, and normal everyday life. Amid the pandemic, though seemingly quiet, the World Health Organization has demonstrated an acceptable job of combating the spread of covid-19 around the world. In this paper, I will demonstrate how the world health organization has mitigated the worldwide spread of the disease to the best of its organization’s abilities by examining how the organization has reacted to the disease from its first outbreak and how they have upheld its claims as an international organization for public health and provided sufficient information for states to maintain and follow, to help guide their country. This paper will also examine the WHO’s main functions and how they have fulfilled all their proposed mandates and functions throughout.  

The world health organization is the United Nations agency that directs and coordinates the world’s response to health emergencies and dedicates improving individuals’ health (World Health Organization, n.d.).  In the early months of 2019, the WHO received the first reports of an unknown strain coming out of the Wuhan province of China where Chinese officials informed the WHO of 41 patients infected with a mysterious pneumonia connected to the Seafood Wholesale market in Huanan (World Health Organization, n.d.). With this new information of an mysterious pneumonia infecting citizens in China, WHO began taking its very first steps and took action as soon as the early month of January. By using the most accessible form of information today, the WHO took to social media to announce going around in Wuhan with no

confirmed deaths (Neilson & Woodward, 2020) bringing the first awareness of the sudden appearance of the disease to the world. The novel coronavirus disease or more widely known as Covid-19 was later determined as an infectious disease that spread through human-to-human transmission through an investigation led by a team of internationally leading scientists that were sent to China by the WHO (World Health Organization, n.d.). From this point onwards the WHO began recommending country leaders to prepare for a potential outbreak and have emergency procedures prepared and developed, declaring a public health emergency of international control in December (CFR.org Editors, 2021). With the information of the disease being a transmissible disease the WHO issued a comprehensive package of technical guidance online with advice to all countries on how to detect, test, and manage potential cases, based on what was known about the disease at the time (World Health Organization, n.d.), giving prominence to countries about the importance of the idea of testing citizens and detecting the disease at an early stage. Air travel was also not advised by the WHO and was recommended that countries stop visiting other countries for a while. Like this the WHO has continued to report and update their recommended guidelines for the world to follow and to use for the sake of fighting and stopping the spread of the pandemic in countries. 

However, throughout the pandemic, there are still many, including a few world leaders who have criticized the WHO. Claiming that they have gone too easy on China or that they did not do a good job at controlling the Covid-19 pandemic, and that they failed to exercise global health leadership and became a tool of Chinese politics, power, and propaganda (Fidler, 2020). 

Chinese officials knew about the outbreak of a novel disease for weeks before it was reported to the WHO, during that time, even Chinese doctors were prevented from speaking out (Buranyi, 2020). It was not that the WHO was going easy on China or that the WHO spread misinformation but China who was purposely withholding important information about the disease, making it so that the WHO would not be able to go investigate themselves earlier. As China is an authoritarian state, they most likely decided that they did not require assistance from the WHO or from anyone, due to their own presumption that believed they would be able to control the disease , which in turn resulted disastrously for themselves and the world. For the WHO to begin acting, early access to information is necessary and greatly helpful for them to be able to guide the world and monitor the disease. If we look at WHO, and their main functions, they are to provide leadership on matters critical to the health of individuals and engaging in partnerships where joint action is needed; Shaping the research agenda; setting norms and standards, and promoting and monitoring their implementation and monitoring the health situation, and addressing health trends (Hope, 2010). All of which I believe the WHO has executed. China should not have withheld such important information about the disease until later on which could have directed the pandemic in a different direction. Nevertheless, the WHO has directed and will continue to direct international health towards a foreseeable future where the pandemic will end or will be significantly reduced. 

In spite of the fact that the WHO recommends guidelines and how to handle the pandemic, it is evident that the WHO does not hold much power or authority. Their primary function within the international community was to simply monitor, report on their accurate new findings, and advise the world during the pandemic. And given their advice, it does not help if no one is willing to listen as an important aspect to help mitigate the spread of the covid-19 was for countries and the citizens to cooperate and follow the specific health guidelines that are set and recommended by the WHO. When none of these were followed it accelerated the spread further and faster. It is noticeable that the WHO can only do what they are allowed by the current member states, and therefore has almost no power to force states to follow any of their stated guidelines. As member states are sovereign the WHO does not necessarily hold any power over them and can only continue to report and provide the necessary updates and new information that is essential about the disease, and in turn, they must individually decide whether to follow or subscribe to the legislation passed by the WHO (Forrest, 2000). As the WHO emphasizes collaboration, if countries do not mandate these guidelines and tips recommended by the WHO, it is not the WHO’s fault for the further spread of the disease, rather their own individual country. The WHO has already done all that they could and have served their functions, the reason for blaming the WHO may just be a way to direct the blame and lack of leadership away from the individual countries who have failed themselves, onto a larger and easier target organization like the WHO.

In conclusion to this paper, after examining the WHO and their functions, and their reaction to the pandemic, I can say that the WHO has played a sufficient role in mitigating the spread of covid-19 globally. If anyone were to blame for the spread of covid-19 it would not be the WHO and instead, it rather should be on the leadership of individual governments and states that did not follow or take the WHO’s recommendations or guidelines seriously as they should have from the beginning as soon as they were informed. Therefore, the World Health Organization has done its job to the best of its organization’s abilities at maintaining and protecting the international public health of the world. With the WHO continuing to monitor the pandemic and share crucial information it should be apparent that individuals and the international community should stay informed and implement the WHO’s recommendations as they continue to be updated. Mitigating the covid-19 pandemic requires a lot of guidance, and preventative action from individual countries, not just the WHO, for a future without the pandemic and hopefully to a world of normality again.