Corporate influence and WHO failures: The Bell Review calls for global health reform
The review will scrutinize the WHO’s corporate ties, mishandled pandemic response, and lack of transparency, calling for urgent reform or replacement to ensure global health policy prioritizes public well-being over corporate agendas.
A new initiative called The Bell Review was launched on December 2, aiming to replace or reform the World Health Organization (WHO). Founded in 1948, the WHO was tasked with promoting global public health, ensuring access to essential healthcare, preventing disease spread, and improving health outcomes. However, it has become increasingly captured by corporate interests in recent years, prompting heavy criticism of the private organization.
📣 The Bell Review launches today to reform or replace the @WHO.@Nigel_Farage: “With @realDonaldTrump in The White House, this is a once in a generation opportunity to reform the WHO… It either reforms or gets replaced!”@bell00david: “Only through the right set of reforms… pic.twitter.com/XEe7BGlAP2
— Action on World Health (@ActionWH) December 2, 2024
The WHO's performance during the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially scrutinized. From its delayed response, inconsistent guidance, and questionable relationship with China, the WHO’s failure to accurately determine the origins of COVID-19 is perhaps its most significant blunder.
In early 2021, the WHO dismissed the theory that the virus originated from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, calling it “extremely unlikely.” However, a newly released report by the U.S. House subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic suggests otherwise.
This two-year investigation points to a likely lab origin, citing the unique biological characteristics of the virus, the history of risky research at the Wuhan lab, and the lack of evidence supporting a natural origin.
In response to these ongoing failures, the Action on World Health campaign group has launched a critical review of the WHO. The group, led by Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage, has assembled a team of experts, including former WHO medical officer Dr. David Bell.
Comprised of former UN officials and a seasoned lawyer, the team will assess the need for reform or, if necessary, the complete overhaul of the WHO. They aim to develop recommendations for a more accountable and effective international health organization, one that better serves the global community and prioritizes community-level health.
The first phase of The Bell Review will assess the WHO’s current operations, identifying both successes and failures. This report is scheduled for release in the Spring of 2025. The second phase will explore potential reforms and approaches to improve the organization, with findings expected by Autumn 2025.
However, the WHO is pushing forward with its own plans to strengthen its mandate through a global pandemic treaty, and amendments to legally binding international law through changes to existing International Health Regulations (IHR) which are set to be voted on at the World Health Assembly in May 2025.
As the WHO engages in “substantive negotiations” behind closed doors and deepens its corporate ties, excluding citizens from crucial health decisions, it’s no wonder that pharmaceutical companies and corporate donors like GAVI and the Gates Foundation exert disproportionate influence over global health policy.
COMMENTS
-
Bruce Atchison commented 2024-12-05 18:02:39 -0500The WHO must be scrapped. There’s too much vested interest in it. And do we really need a global health organization? Why can’t countries just contact each other’s health departments? Why do we need an extra layer of bureaucracy? Why don’t we take back our sovereignty?