to to keep the organization independent of international conflicts on july 24th 948 in the aftermath of the 2nd world war and the creation of the un 55 nations came together to create the world health organization in geneva. the suffering of millions of human beings to score the country will be only and many many thousands of lives will be saved. the choice of switzerland was no coincidence a neutral country where international politics should be put aside. says clearly that is what the founders wished for in 1948 when they chose geneva as the headquarters of the w.h.o. to some extent to keep it at a distance from the political decision making at the un headquarters in new york. the un's predecessor the league of nations had also tried to promote international cooperation on the health front especially after the spanish flu pandemic between

$918.92 the un wanted to go a step further when. created an immediate post world war 2 period it began with very great idealism and aspiration and there were some from whatever country who believe truly international order united nations and its various agencies would make the world safe for peace so that we would never see our devastation what brought war to again that was the aspiration but the cold war between the united states and the sub union was already jeopardizing international cooperation in 949 stalin withdrew the us s. r. and the east european communist bloc from the w h b 2 b. demanded exception to this issue she said this is going to be a partnership obviously but you want to add to our division to the conflict of the 2 world. palace was also a battle of completely different ideologies

a capitalist designed business a state run health care system stunning success and nikita khrushchev was eager to seek peaceful coexistence with america and in 1955 he also decided that the soviet union should rejoin the w. h. that created a moment in a way since in world history which world of the show to step onto that stage and seized the opportunity was one of its greatest accomplishments of not its greatest accomplishment which was the campaign to eradicate smallpox world war 2. well relations between the 2 superpowers remain tense in berlin and cuba inside the w.h.o. they were hand in hand my 1st international activity was working with the smallpox eradication for 2 years during their program i worked in india side by side with people from u.s.s.r. from many different countries around the world and we all work together technically

to accomplish a common goal well the politics continued to inflame international ideas and international views the technical people worked perfectly together and eradicated you disease that was causing 2700000 deaths in 1967. at the end of the $970.00 s. the world health organization and now it's the eradication of smallpox as i am concerned i believe surely that it is the last case into. the w.h.o. had defeated one of the deadliest diseases known to humankind well also expanding the availability and use of antibiotics membership of the organization then increased from $55.00 to $150.00 nations and at the behest of these needy joint developing world countries the w.h.o. decided to set its goals. even higher. in 1978 the double hosted

a conference in the soviet republic of. turkey and declared that it was no longer just an agency for cooperation it had become a universal guarantor of health for everyone everywhere. and was a great international conference in which the declaration of omaha declared that the social determinants of health must be addressed health policy must be formulated into sectoral way all the sectors of the country and economy have to be brought to bear on it and the goal should be universal equity health for all by the year 2000 was the glorious naive dream of the declaration. but what should have been a promising future soon turned into a fiasco. marked the beginning of a new division in the w.h.o. with member states again pursuing their own specific interests that was extremely

threatening obviously to the powerful nations because the powerful nations don't really want an equal or a fair international economic order it goes against their interests and so that project was abandoned very very fast many countries in the global war the united kingdom especially when margaret thatcher became prime minister of the united states especially when ronald reagan became president became very conservative didn't like the fact that these countries former colonies from the global south were now becoming numerically dominant in the world health the same way. but faced with ever increasing challenges the organization suffered from its limited size in 2020 its budget was close to 5000000000 euros an impressive sounding some bus in fact no more than the annual. of the single major hospital in the developed

world. really the budget of the world health organization is very small compared to budgets and even in cities and big cities his 1st public health codes so w.h.o. doesn't have a budget which permitted to do what it could be doing and so every time there's an emergency it has to go out and raise more phones in order to respond to that emergency. ronald reagan the us president during the 1980 s. was the 1st to understand that this modest budget gave him political leverage over the organization. and happy to see the balance tipping towards developing countries he decided to reduce the united states financial contributions. the united states and other countries a global losing control of the policies an agenda of the w.h.o. and so they began to act in very punitive ways towards the w.h.o.

an effort led by the united states in 1980 froze the budget and the reagan administration actually cut its act its contribution to 20 percent of its stoops so those were frozen 1st which in a world of inflation oh growth of additional expenses and that's essential in effect of decreasing the budget. in an attempt to boost its financial resources the w.h.o. began to diversify its sources of income the obligatory contributions from member states represent only 20 percent of its budget the rest comes from voluntary contributions donations mainly from member states but also from private sector institutions and less has an impact on the functioning of the w 8. 30 years ago starting microsoft if there was we had

a very ambitious vision computer for everyone. now i'm joining you in seeking to achieve an even more important vision which is good health for every human being. busy and fuels the 2nd biggest donor to the w.h.o. is the bill and melinda gates foundation security mr gates could say i am happy to continue providing money but i would prefer it to go towards polio vaccination and the director general of the w.h.o. is given money under the condition that specific programs are funded this just can't be. just says despite stone is the w h only launched high profile publicity campaigns on issues such as sexual health all smoking but adapting to the threat of sporadic epidemics proved extremely difficult

. yes at the turn of the new millennium the world was beginning to change the emergence of china added a new dimension to globalization the most populous country on the planet was evolving at a pace unprecedented in modern history from a largely agricultural country into a major industrial power. the kind of development that exacerbates the spread of viruses when live animal markets do business in the middle of mega city just. as seen in late 2002 when an animal coronavirus made the jump to humans in the southern chinese city of 4 shen. it was the start of an atypical pneumonia epidemic that spread slowly and silently across the country the world only learned about the novel virus when the 1st victims were reported in hong kong.

sons as it came to. you know and was soon infecting people around the world well china continued to deny its existence. they said this is nothing it's serious it was an infection we know what it was we've stopped it it's not spreading any further and so w.h.o. went on for about a week as it learned more about this disease spreading around the world and then the director general took a brave and courageous move to report globally to china was putting the rest of the world at risk by not reporting what was going on in china to help i can defy the u.t.c. growth harlem brundtland then directed general of the w h o tells the organizations chief epidemiologist with making the news globally that we needed to make a global alert so that other countries could be aware of this. dr brundtland was

a former head of state and in addition she was a pediatrician she understood clearly politics as well as technical issues related to health other director generals were less willing to take a political stand then she was she was a very strong director general who didn't wait for consensus from countries before acting she acted and then brought countries along with her in order that they would agree with what she did it was enormously effective in what the w.h.o. was able to provide leadership for over the reluctant consent of china china was offended was upset was insulted and this will come back to haunt the w.h.o. and the world to this day. 3 years later the sons convent of iris completely disappeared and the w.h.o.

had appointed a new director general. margaret chan who had come to worldwide attention as director of health in hong kong during the sars outbreak took over as head of the organization. i would like to thank my country for nominating me to this post. and also i would like to thank the hong kong and macau special administrators regional governments along with the central government provided me with a lot of support during the 3 months of a campaign trail. margaret cho and was a statement of intent by beijing the w.h.o. was a prime objective in its international strategy the new director general had a new and extremely powerful instrument at her disposal to reinforce her independence the newly composed international health regulations revised and

consolidated in 2005 by the member states of the w.h.o. . which always assume a remotes. they authorized the w.h.o. to issue alerts about health emergencies that might occur. with the members also committed to reporting certain events to the w.h.o. . not doing so or responding too late could result in the w.h.o. holding them publicly accountable. for them but the w.h.o. is also part of the system of the united nations whose fundamental rule is non interference in other country's affairs on the one hand w.h.o. is told to monitor developments and if need be intervene in the politics of sovereign nations while on the other hand it is to in general refrain from such actions would you do to. look what happened at the world trade organization at the w t o i want a country is out of line it is immediately brought to order by the w t

o director general and other state. and if it still refuses to accept requirements it can leave the w t o but quitting the w t o is a dramatic move for a country so what people have accepted on the economic front for capitalism and trade they are incapable of doing so for human health. and that is tragic. the w.h.o. in common with any institution serving the public interest has been weakened this is not this is not some kind of unfortunate mistake it is wanted they do not want a strong w.h.o. they want a world health organization that will rep that will so the fact that health is a trillion dollar market. the w.h.o.

faced unlimited budget and we covenants which were to have dramatic consequences in 2014. liberia sierra leone and guinea so multiple outbreaks of the virus. teams from doctors without borders on the ground reported that the wave of infections was out of control while the international community said nothing. in march the w.h.o. sounded the alarm. on it. keep going. on and on everybody lot of doctors phoning or more than just all of the territory. a few days later in geneva the w.h.o. declared that this does not constitute an international emergency w.h.o. does not recommend any trouble trade restrictions. they don't make public health sense. on august 8th

20146 months after the start of the epidemic and with the bird having taken the lives of more than 2000 people the head of the w.h.o. finally responded. this morning i am declaring the current outbreak of ebola virus disease a public health emergency of international concern. by the time the epidemic. finally declared over 2016 it had caused 10000 deaths and a dozen west african countries. once more the w.h.o. prepared to change its director general. excellence is ladies and gentlemen philip a special advisor to the u.n. secretary general submitted his application what the great to the it is for me. to be before us only. to present make

a leader see for the post of. the world health organization. i call for shortly before hand he had been to beijing seeking chinese support for his election need to have the chinese president reveal that he had chosen the african candidate ducted tadros. says. when china decides to back a candidate they obviously have a far better chance because the various countries getting aid from china will play ball. with people cycle that is typical for the election unfortunately that's just how it is when you have a democratic vote. tadros was elected the 1st african to ever become director general of the w h. however he wasn't completely unknown. he had

served for over 15 years as either the health or foreign minister in his homeland of ethiopia thank you. dr charles i would consider one of the very best ministers of health ever in africa and i am not alone in believing that many many other people believe that as well you spent a decade expanding the number of hospitals improving the management capacity of the hospitals improving the quality of care. meaning a health workforce that was the sort of health extension worker so every single person could get access to care in a very very poor country. but that's only half of the story of the new w.h.o. general director. for 15 years he had been a member of an all 3 terry an ethiopian regime responsible for the deaths of

hundreds of the government's political opponents. while minister of health he had also refused to acknowledge a number of epidemics in the country to avoid pushing off investments. he had been elected by a coalition of countries driven by china countries in the south and countries of africa the aim was an end to western domination of this important un organization in. the room. paradoxically it is still the west that to a large part finances the w.h.o. but has absolutely no control over its political decision making it is a double. european and american candidates in the upper echelons of international organizations now found themselves on the receiving end of chinese strategy. beijing began mobilizing its allies to elect its preferred candidates

they tended to come from friendly countries like dr tadros or directly from the ranks of the beijing regime. change. in 2019 she don't you was elected to head the food and agriculture organization the un agency tells with fighting hunger and food insecurity strategically a body at least as important as the w a h a. n 2016 men home away responsible for state secure. was elected to head into poll the international police cooperation department based in france. his appointment was controversial given the role of the police in china suppression of dissidents. in 2018 main hallway disappeared overnight deposed by beijing which accused him of corruption without informing him to put. it. today representatives of the chinese government also head the international

civil aviation organization the united nations industrial development organization . and the international telecommunications union which played a big role in the development of 5 g. phone technology to. the un's department of economic and social affairs is also headed by a chinese official plus the chinese are assuming an increasingly important role in the un human rights council which is also based in geneva. china now constitutes over a 5th of the world population and economically speaking in terms of manufacturing industry and trade with china ranks 1st or 2nd in the world there are more chinese citizens going into big international organizations and assuming top posts usual she this trend is inevitable no one can stop this sort of work china is not going

to accept insults discrimination or an equal treatment against our country and people my jobs it's not acceptable to slander and create rumors about china so we all the less sheena china has a strategy that consists of building its own intrinsic balances and it needs the world on the economic plane to maintain its internal balances for production and stability for the enrichment of its middle class those that. want. and for some years now it's been trying to become part of the international order that we have established i don't know aunt on this from that that couldn't live with the. kid for us there's just one question is she will china change and adopt the universal values that have led to over 70 years of peace and stability economist told people it was or will china on the contrary do the changing you see illusions.

china's ability to position its candidates in international organizations was also a result of u.s. withdrawal on the international front. transamerica does not believe in multilateralism. anyone refusing to align themselves with the american position comes under criticism and pressure. they consider china a developing nation and because china is a developing nation they take massive advantage of the united states why didn't the president stop this i've been talking about it from there got it and we're looking at that very very strongly world trade w so i have probably the world health and world trade both of them i'm not sure which is worse you want to know the truth but we'll figure it out ok. today the united states still plays the prime role at the heart of the un. but it has moved away from a great many international organizations that are very important mission the u.n.

human rights council unesco the vienna agreement on the iranian nuclear program. and also the paris agreement. to preserve the integrity so here you have china acting inside the united nations not to create programs or new initiatives but to gain legitimacy and defend itself support basically to avoid anything that goes against its own particular interests secure that's not new but other countries do the same thing. but given the size of china and the sometimes contrary nature of the interests they protect that makes it more serious. and they are faced with the united states whose number one reflex is if we don't like the way the instrument works we break it off i'm sure. the world health organization is indeed a pawn in continuing tensions between china and the united states it has also come

under attack from various sites during the biggest pandemic so far this century in addition to mass casualties large parts of the global population have had to endure restrictions and even curfews what could. have done better. one of several big questions that will take time to. history shows that big pandemics always end in a search for the culprit always. if the world needs a scapegoat. and we are in an increasingly marked by the malevolent spirit of nationalism to win this for the listener you know the obvious choice is to lay the blame on some all powerful international organization rather than look at our own failings. and i find that deeply unjust.

performing not as used. unfortunately in the 21st century multilateralism is in danger. countries look 1st to their own priorities every country in particular the united states with its america 1st approach. and that kind of thinking is dangerous. and. how can the w.h.o. fights once again against disease and epidemics effectively and liberate itself from the rivalry between china and the us. should spark interest you know it's restrict you from i don't think it would be productive to restructure the w.h.o. to respond to emergency help situations like that. because it would eventually lead to the same failings seen previously prefer to see. and we shouldn't undermine the w.h.o. as trump has done by reducing its budget or by creating rival structures which

would be bound to rival the w.h.o. without performing any better themselves and you know in my opinion we have to get these respective states to respect the rules that they themselves amid too long your small due respect to your hunger to see them she said. the novel coronavirus has led to a crisis that serves as a stark warning to us. new pandemics are not only possible but probable a grave concern and challenge for humanity. but it has also shown how fragile our health care systems are if we want to be better equipped for the future we will need to have a come of this current of research and nationalism the crisis facing the w.h.o. is not the cause but a symptom of an increasingly unsteady global. 1900

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30 minutes money dot com. in the us right of climate change. africa is missing. what's in store. for the future the book. comforting megacities the multi-media insight. into. the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. how has the rate of infection been developing. what measures are being taken. what does the latest research say. information and context.

the coronavirus up to the code special monday to friday on w. . as authorities struggle to control factions state leaders say there's still not enough social distancing and they're urging. keep things from getting worse also coming up we'll take a closer look at the impact that is having on young people the pandemic is pretty.