Independent pandemic review group criticizes China, WHO delays

GENEVA (Reuters) – An independent panel said on Monday that Chinese officials could have implemented more vigorous public health measures in January to curb the initial outbreak of COVID-19, and criticized the World Health Organization (WHO ) for not having declared an international emergency before January. 30.

Experts on the Global Pandemic Management Review, led by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, have called for reforms to the United Nations agency based in Geneva. expert Mike Ryan said the number of deaths from COVID-19 worldwide is expected to exceed 100,000 per week “very soon.”

“What is clear to the Panel of Experts is that the public health measures could have been applied more forcefully by local and national health authorities in China in January,” the report said, referring to the initial outbreak of the new disease in central Wuhan City, Hubei Province.

As evidence of human-to-human transmission emerged, “in far too many countries this signal has been ignored,” he added.

Specifically, he wondered why the WHO Emergency Committee had not met before the third week of January and declared an international emergency only at its second meeting on January 30.

“Although the term pandemic is neither used nor defined in the International Health Regulations (2005), its use serves to draw attention to the seriousness of a health event. It wasn’t until March 11 that the WHO used the term, ”the report said.

“The global pandemic alert system is not fit for purpose,” he said. “The World Health Organization cannot afford to do the job.”

Under President Donald Trump, the United States has accused the WHO of being “China-centric,” which the agency denies. European countries led by France and Germany have pushed to address WHO’s gaps in funding, governance and legal powers.

The group called for a “global reset” and said it would make recommendations in a final report to the health ministers of WHO’s 194 member states in May.