Coronavirus: WHO member states back probe into response to Covid-19

Resolution calls for evaluation into how the health body responded to pandemic

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organisation, has welcomed an evaluation. AP

A probe into the World Health Organisation’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak has been backed by all members states as the US renewed its severe criticism of the global health body.

Some 122 countries including the European Union, Australia and Saudi Arabia had brought the resolution ahead of the WHO’s annual gathering, which is this year being held online rather than in Geneva.

The resolution says the WHO should “initiate, at the earliest appropriate moment, and in consultation with Member States, a stepwise process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation, including using existing mechanisms, as appropriate, to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to Covid-19”.

This includes “the effectiveness of the mechanisms at WHO’s disposal” and “the actions of WHO and their timelines pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic”.

On Monday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he welcomed a investigation. He added that the WHO “is committed to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement”.

But the organisation has come under fire from the US in particular, which has accused the WHO of lacking independence and covering for China where the disease is widely believed to have originated.

In a letter to Mr Tedros published late on Monday, US President Donald Trump threatened to suspend funding for the WHO if it “does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days”.

The World Health Assembly this year is almost exclusively focused on the Covid-19 outbreak, which has killed more than 315,000 people globally and infected around 4.7 million.