Editorial: The World Health Organization at 75
states unequivocally: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.”
And yet, the agency’s creators chose not to prioritize robust systems of universal health care that would meet these goals. This absent focus is one factor in why infectious diseases continue to impact populations in low- and middle-income countries. Thewas a big win. But for other diseases, the agency and its donors have been unable to reach targets, including in the elimination of HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
The WHO does, however, have a consistent record for establishing itself as the go-to organization for setting global standards for the efficacy, safety and quality of vaccines and medicines. As we have seen during the pandemic, the agency is central to alerting the world to new infectious diseases, helped in no small measure by the revolution in biomedicine and health data, especially genomics.
How the WHO operates and sets its priorities is also influenced by the economic-policy priorities of its member states. The agency was created by a handful of powers, many of which . Contributions from the United States and European nations accounted for more than half of the agency’s US$7.6-billion income in 2021.Boosting innovation and competitiveness has been a big priority, and this has come at the expense of knowledge sharing. In 1980, the United States enacted the Bayh–Dole Act allowing universities to commercialize inventions from federally funded research. This led to restrictions on what researchers could and couldn’t share.
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