Clark’s WHO task ‘mission impossible’
AUCKLAND: Former prime minister Helen Clark says she hesitated about heading a global Covid19 review panel ‘‘because it’s mission impossible’’.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has appointed Ms Clark to cochair an independent panel, reviewing its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the response by governments.
She will look at how the outbreak happened and how such an event might be prevented in the future.
Speaking about her new role to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Yardley yesterday morning, Ms Clark said the inquiry would focus on how effective the response that the WHO has coordinated has been.
She said there would be other parallel inquiries going on within the WHO as well.
‘‘We’ll have to write detailed terms of reference to see how we move forward with this.’’
The way member countries of the WHO have handled the situation would also be looked at carefully, she said.
Ms Clark acknowledged that the move to ban travel from China had worked for New Zealand, but not for other countries.
‘‘One of the issues may be going forward is does the WHO . . . need more powers?’’
Asked whether she hesitated about taking up the cochair job, she said: ‘‘Yes — because it’s mission impossible.’’
She said it was hard to say whether New Zealand’s success with battling Covid19 had anything to do with her appointment.
Ms Clark acknowledged that her cochair teammate, former Liberia president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was most likely called upon due to her experience with the Ebola outbreak during her reign about six years ago.
WHO Directorgeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged the magnitude of the situation the world has found itself in — and the respective response that was therefore needed.
He called Covid19 a ‘‘onceinacentury’’ pandemic that had hammered home a critical lesson — ‘‘when it comes to health, our destinies are intertwined’’.
‘‘The Covid19 pandemic has left no country untouched. It has humbled all of us.
‘‘It is often said that disease knows no borders. It does not care about our political differences and it disregards the distinctions we draw between health and economy, lives and livelihoods.’’
Mr Ghebreyesus said Ms Clark would work alongside Ms Sirleaf.
‘‘I cannot imagine two more strongminded, independent leaders to help guide us through this critical learning process to help us understand what happened.
‘‘An honest assessment and to help us understand also what we should do to prevent such a tragedy in the future, to collectively — as a world — say ‘never again’ to such a tragedy.’’
He said the WHO would be an ‘‘open book’’ to Ms Clark’s review and he expected all WHO member states to also be transparent.
Ms Clark posted a message on her official Twitter page after the news broke.
‘‘Honoured to be announced by [Dr Ghebreyesus] as a cochair of Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response with former Liberia President (Sirleaf).
‘‘Aim to provide evidencebased path for future.’’
The panel will report to health ministers in November.
Ms Clark said the assignment could only be described as exceptionally challenging.
She warned a mass Covid19 vaccination programme was not likely until 2023 at the earliest. ‘‘This is going to roll for years. ‘‘There are discussions going on about a vaccine rolling out to essential workers, like the health force and then to vulnerable groups . . . maybe 20% of the population at the end of next year. That is also optimistic.
‘‘In the worstcase scenario we’ll see it rolling on for three or four years with 60% of people affected around the world. This is not great.’’— The New Zealand Herald/ AAP