Blog 1: WHO reforms

            On January 21 the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) opened the 132^nd Executive Board meeting of the United Nations (UN).  Margaret Chan spoke about many things that the WHO was able to positively accomplish over the past year, but still stressed the “importance of cost-effectiveness and results-driven operations at a time of global economic austerity and precarious funding”.  Chan, as well as the other Executive Board members of the UN, know that WHO reform is going to be key, and Chan seemed to be driving the point of the usefulness of the WHO and what is has been able to accomplish in recent past.  She spoke of great strides in collaborations with private sector about vaccine donations and went as far to name one such pharmaceutical company that has joined in contract to provide ten percent of its influenza vaccines in the event of a breakout.  But, even with the types vaccine and monetary donations from around the world Chan emphasized that a solid, balanced budget must be a priority for reform in order for the WHO to be able to continue its long term benefits to the world.  They have already reduced their organizational staff by about one thousand personnel in order to try and help with budget constraints.  One of the last things that the board is review by the end of the meeting is to review and provide guidance on the Global Vaccine Action Plan, which is suppose to provide direction on what should be the WHO’s immunization priorities through 2020.  This will help the WHO have a strategic course of action if there were, or will, be multiple disease/viral outbreaks at a time; which area gets priority, or how can both epidemics be taken care of at the same time.

            There are several things in this world that we as individuals need to cut back on, but health care is definitely not one of them.  For the WHO to have to cut back their budget and put into place certain reforms to fall within budgetary constraints is absurd, but unfortunately that right now is the world we live in.  It’s great that pharmaceutical companies from the private sector have not only donated product but money, eighteen million dollars.  But, that is just a minuscule fraction of what their profit margin is for the year, and yet we see it as a win.  In order for manageable influenza, HIV control, and eradicated malaria we, as all of the non-developing nations, need to provide more to the WHO than what they have now. 

http://www.ip-watch.org/2013/01/21/packed-who-executive-board-agenda-highlights-need-to-streamline-priorities/

Matt Partridge

01/21/2013 at 8:57 pm