A PLos editorial on the WHO's reponse to public health threats:
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http://medicine.plosjournals.org/archive/1549-1676/4/5/pdf/10.1371_journal.pmed.0040197-S.pdf
How Is WHO Responding to Global Public
Health Threats?
The PLoS Medicine Editors
Citation: The PLoS Medicine Editors (2007) How
is WHO responding to global public health
threats? PLoS Med 4(5): e197. doi:10.1371/journal.
pmed.0040197
It is a favored pastime of medical
editors and journalists (including
ourselves) to criticize the World
Health Organization (WHO) for,
among other things, its ?fossilized
bureaucracy,? its lack of clear direction
and priorities, the dysfunctional
relationship between its headquarters
and regional offi ces, and its faltering
steps towards building partnerships
[1,2]. But with the arrival of so many
new players on the global health scene,
and the subsequent fragmentation of
global health governance, we surely
need WHO more than ever [3]. It is
the best placed of all health agencies
to coordinate the disparate, often
overlapping global health initiatives
and to set global norms and standards
in health care, and its convening
power (its ability to bring together
experts) is unparalleled. Two recent
WHO initiatives on preparing for and
responding to global public health
threats show the organization at its
best, although there are, as always,
some important caveats.
_____________________________________________
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/archive/1549-1676/4/5/pdf/10.1371_journal.pmed.0040197-S.pdf
How Is WHO Responding to Global Public
Health Threats?
The PLoS Medicine Editors
Citation: The PLoS Medicine Editors (2007) How
is WHO responding to global public health
threats? PLoS Med 4(5): e197. doi:10.1371/journal.
pmed.0040197
It is a favored pastime of medical
editors and journalists (including
ourselves) to criticize the World
Health Organization (WHO) for,
among other things, its ?fossilized
bureaucracy,? its lack of clear direction
and priorities, the dysfunctional
relationship between its headquarters
and regional offi ces, and its faltering
steps towards building partnerships
[1,2]. But with the arrival of so many
new players on the global health scene,
and the subsequent fragmentation of
global health governance, we surely
need WHO more than ever [3]. It is
the best placed of all health agencies
to coordinate the disparate, often
overlapping global health initiatives
and to set global norms and standards
in health care, and its convening
power (its ability to bring together
experts) is unparalleled. Two recent
WHO initiatives on preparing for and
responding to global public health
threats show the organization at its
best, although there are, as always,
some important caveats.