Wall Street Journal: WHO Faces Pressure to Reform — With Expanded Powers
“Days after President Trump said the U.S. would freeze funding for the World Health Organization last month, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison pushed for a revamp of the agency’s mandate to give it powers to investigate potential pandemics similar to weapons inspectors. … The hope is that the ability to send investigators to a country quickly to probe the source and scope of a public-health crisis would allow the organization to more speedily alert the world about a potential pandemic. … The proposals have so far generated limited momentum. European officials want to focus on dealing with the pandemic for now. A State Department spokesman said the U.S. appreciates ‘the serious manner in which the Australian government is contemplating this crucial challenge and believe that a range of options should be considered in response to the catastrophic lack of transparency’ regarding the coronavirus outbreak…” (Norman/Hinshaw, 5/28).