Who controls the World Health Organization?

Justas Stankevičius

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On April 15th many people across the world were surprised by the news that Donald Trump had cut off hundreds of millions of dollars ($ 400 million last year) of the U.S. funding for the World Health Organization (WHO). However, a closer look at the WHO’S work makes this action understandable.

Today, the world is still terrified of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus. The virus originated in China, where, of course, the ruling Chinese Communist Party had its methods of dealing with it. This is not a secret that The Chinese Communist Party tried to hide the fact of the virus’s existence. The concealment manifested itself in an attempt to shut up medics and a journalist. As China delayed announcing the fact of the pandemic, the virus began to spread freely around various surrounding regions, giving birth to the largest social control campaign (the largest quarantine) in history. The campaign aimed to keep 760 million people as far apart as possible. Although very harsh measures were taken, the delayed action was no longer enough to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus to the rest of the world.

The vast majority of countries around the world have criticized China’s unacceptable actions to control the COVID-19. However, among the critics, there was no organization responsible for the health policy around the world. This is the organization known as the World Health Organization. WHO at the beginning of the pandemic was a full supporter of China. The support was expressed by supporting China’s actions at the expense of the health security of the rest of the world.

The WHO didn’t dare to criticize China, but responded positively about brutal China’s actions of censoring journalists and medics. The current head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (g. 1965) said that China had “taken extraordinary actions” to “make us safer”. According to him, China’s actions were “heroic”. The WHO has criticized states that have introduced travel bans and reassured the international community by reassuring the international community that there is no need for such travel bands. More than that, the WHO chief called on “all parties to make consistent, evidence-based decisions” and added that “if not for China’s anti-virus strategy, the number of cases outside China would be much higher”. The WHO has been an active advocate of “strong protection of freedom of movement and other human rights”. Fortunately, over 100 airlines around the world by that time have already canceled flights to China on March 9th and by that ignoring WHO recommendations.

Before becoming head of the WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Marxist People’s Liberation Front in 2012-2016, having previously served as Minister of Health for 7 years. The political force came to Ethiopian political life through coercion and maintained warm relations with the USSR during the Cold War. This regime and its representatives were completely run counter to the value principles proclaimed by international organizations. But as it turns out, such a biography can be a suitable guide to be a part of such international organizations. However, the WHO chief is not the only one praising China’s virus management policy. Shashank J. Joshi shared the message on his Twitter account that “the Chinese people feel protected” and that “we all need to take a step back and admire what has happened”.

Before moving on to another WHO representative, it would be worth getting acquainted with a British investor Peter Humphrey, who was imprisoned in China in 2013. Before he was released, this British investor was stunned, tied to a chair, locked in a cage, and then forced to read a statement written by the Chinese police. The footage was presented by James Chau (b. 1977) who is the WHO Goodwill Ambassador today.

The ties between the WHO and China are far stronger than they seem. Head of the WHO 2006-2017 Margaret Chan previously worked as a health manager in Hong Kong (1994-2003). Unsurprisingly in her text that can be found on the official WHO website, she stated that “China is seen in the eyes of the world as a model for development at various levels” and that “China is very fortunate to have a president who has made health the center of government”. With such a credible circle of people, China is exercising its influence over WHO.

Taiwan, a state that has its government, army and currency has been deprived of the opportunity not only to become a member of WHO. Not only that but Taiwan is not even allowed to be an observer country, thanks to the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in the WHO. Taiwan’s sovereignty and the fact of independence are ignored in all WHO documents, such as the inclusion of Taiwan in Chinese cities and the name “Taipei and the regions”. Recently a video was circulated on the Internet in which a WHO representative was asked by the journalist about Taiwan during an online conference, set out to play without hearing the question and later breaking the connection. The WHO representative then withdrew from the conversation without answering a question about Taiwan. A comical, but usual situation. As a result of this attitude, as many as 23 million Taiwanese people are at risk (if the WHO’s activities save lives) because they do not receive any information from the WHO, since according to the WHO, Taiwan just does not exist as an independent country.

Why does China have so much power in the WHO? One word: corruption

First of all, suspicions of internal corruption within the organization itself have increased with the discovery of numerous schemes for the distribution of money by a large international organization. Besides, the internal risk assessment documents also show an increase in internal complaints of corruption, fraud, and even sexual harassment among the 7.000 employee organization, which also affected an internal team of four permanent investigators and two consultants. The WHO department, which is leading the global response to the COVID-19 outbreak is chronically underfunded, even though the organization itself is simply lobbying for revenue from both communist China and the West.

The WHO announced the global outbreak of the COVID-19 only on January 30th, 10 days after the first confirmation that the virus could spread among humans and eight days after praising China’s efforts to fight the virus. This WHO “mistake” can be explained by the fact that WHO regularly receives significant material support from China. Before the WHO acknowledged the fact that the pandemic was crystallizing on March 11th, China donated $ 20 million to the WHO to fight the COVID-19. It is hardly surprising that there is the influence of states on WHO decisions, given the extent to which they have contributed financially to WHO activities. This is clear that the support of large countries such as China gives them considerable influence.

As we already know, the WHO chief is from Ethiopia. Perhaps it is only a coincidence that China has pledged $ 80 million to build medical research centers in Ethiopia. Just like a random coincidence that in 2012 Chinese-funded African Union headquarters were built in Ethiopia. China called it a “gift” of $ 200 million.

One of the largest projects currently underway in Ethiopia is the construction of a $ 4 billion Ethiopian-Djibouti railway. The Chinese export-import bank has backed the project with loans totaling $ 3.3 billion. Seeing the behavior of the WHO chief, the question remains open as to whether such a great amount of support for his country does not influence his decisions and rhetoric towards China.

If we doubt (and we do doubt) the neutrality of the WHO in disseminating information, it is worth noting that this organization works with Google – these two giants are “fighting misinformation” to ensure that people search for information about the COVID-19 according to Google’s algorithms first receive facts from United Nations Health Agency which is directly linked to the WHO.

Finally, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the WHO is ideologically biased. Health care should be one of the least ideologically influenced public policies, but the opposite is true today. With the ideas of the New Left highlighting the importance of so-called reproductive rights, one of the WHO’s priorities in recent decades has been to ensure these “rights” (abortion, contraception, sterilization) throughout the planet, especially in Third World countries. In this fight for reproductive liberation, the WHO is not holding back, as best demonstrated in 2010 by the WHO’s “Sexual Education Standards” for Europe. They unequivocally state that children under the age of 4 should learn about masturbation and “pleasure from self-touch”, as well as their “right to explore gender identities”, and up to the age of 6 to learn about and “accept” homosexual relationships, family diversity. In the face of a coronavirus pandemic, the WHO is also working intensively to ensure that the availability of “reproductive rights” continues to be guaranteed under quarantine conditions.

In conclusion, it must be acknowledged that the WHO is not only ideologized but also strongly grown up with a state that is a threat to our national security in the West. That is what many special forces across Europe and the U.S say. More broadly, the example of the WHO shows that the bureaucratic separation of international organizations from ordinary people is a great breeding ground for careerists, who receive very high levels of power and non-transparent political influence. These powers and influences do not always coincide with the vision declared by organizations or even more so, the interest of the people. When an organization loses sight of its goals and principles, it needs a push to get back on track. Discontinued U.S. support could become such a push.