The WHO won’t get fooled again

Is there a second act after a life in politics? The question has become surprisingly topical over the past couple of weeks and will remain so until at least September. The best local example of how such a life is possible is still former prime minister Helen Clark. In 2020 alone, Clark has almost single-handedly saved RNZ Concert from annihilation, been a sensible voice on the forthcoming cannabis referendum, helped start a discussion on New Zealand’s borders during Covid-19, and given her name to a think tank that produced reports on loneliness and housing affordability. And it’s only July.

By November, Clark and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will have submitted their initial report on the performance of the World Health Organisation (WHO) during the Covid-19 pandemic. Of course, not only is the pandemic not over – it is accelerating.

This is even true in our own part of the world. New Zealanders are shocked that Victoria reported 428 new cases on Friday, the biggest daily increase in any Australian state since the crisis began. Worldwide, there were 248,912 new cases in one day. The global death toll is approaching 600,000.

Some media coverage pointed out that Clark and Sirleaf are unusually well-placed to lead such a review. New Zealand’s success with Covid-19 has been cited internationally, and under Sirleaf, who was Africa’s first elected female head of state, Liberia fought off an ebola outbreak. Sadly, the pandemic means the pair won’t be able to do the review in person.

Clark told the that the brief she and Sirleaf were given is ‘‘what do we need to stop the world being blindsided again by a crisis like this?’’

Preparedness at a national level must be matched by preparedness at an international level. Health crises such as Covid-19 reveal the inherent dangers of global distrust and lack of cooperation, exemplified by US President Donald Trump’s politicisation of the crisis and his formal decision to withdraw the US from the WHO in 2021 over claims it lacked transparency and was soft on China.

The withdrawal from an organisation the US helped create has been described as ‘‘among the most ruinous presidential decisions in recent history’’. It follows Trump’s freezing of contributions to the WHO. Speaking to RNZ in April, Clark said she couldn’t think of ‘‘anything more foolish in the middle of a global pandemic which has gone beyond being a health crisis to being a full-blown economic and social crisis’’.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has argued that ‘‘the greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself’’, but ‘‘rather, it’s the lack of leadership and solidarity at the global and national levels’’.

Clark has speculated that one outcome of the inquiry could be a convention on pandemics that countries would sign up to, with the WHO given more powerful mechanisms than currently exist.

There are also growing calls to ensure that vaccines, when they do come, must be accessible to all populations in all countries, rather than exacerbating existing inequalities. Clark pointed out that New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been one of the signatories to an open letter, published on Friday in the that has also been signed by leaders from Canada, South Africa, Sweden, Korea, Ethiopia, Spain and Tunisia.

The letter stresses that ‘‘where you live should not determine whether you live, and global solidarity is central to saving lives and protecting the economy’’.

Clark has speculated that one outcome of the inquiry could be a convention on pandemics.