APRIL 10, 2020
KARO-NA! Let us Not Disturb the Order
Coronavirus is moving the world order created over decades and turning it over its head. In times of pandemic, the battle is not limited to boundaries and countries rattle by this virus have common needs; availability of accurate information, transparent disclosures, protective gears, medical devices and research around vaccines. Even if one country secures its position in terms of lower rate of infections and mortality is of no consequence unless Italy, Spain, UK, and the USA get over the curve. We succeed wholesome or we fail wholesome! There is not going to be piecemeal victory in this fight and chances of success are higher if we play the game together.
The World Health Organization (WHO) was established on April 7, 1948. It is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO has played a leading role in several public health achievements including Ebola virus, Malaria, Tuberculosis etc. The World Health Assembly is composed of representatives of all 194 member states. Its annual budget is over $2.5 billion, most of which comes from voluntary contributions from member states. This multilateral body takes the lead in dealing with an outbreak of disease which has the potential of affecting global health. It is currently under criticism for not handling the corona crisis well and siding with China. On the other hand, its Director-General Tedros Adhanom, former Health Minister and Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, is rubbishing the claim during his briefing sessions and have made open allegations against countries like Taiwan of being racist.
Another international multilateral body of significance is the World Trade Organization (WTO), which came into force on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement signed by 123 nations. It is the largest international economic organization in the world. WTO made the world borderless and enabled free flow of goods and services. Thomas Friedman, in his book “The World Is Flat” recognised the role of WTO in globalisation in trade and economics. Interestingly, this multilateral agency even created a dispute resolution mechanism to settle disputes among the member countries on issues related to trade and economics.
The common feature in both WTO and WHO is that member countries honour their commitments under this regime and there is a defined world order in the areas of global health and world trade. Both these arrangements, in the last few decades, have enhanced security and prosperity across major economies besides improving global health infrastructure around the world.
In times of corona crisis, both these multilateral bodies are under strain. The primary reason is the opaque ways of member countries in dealing with their trade and health related issues. There are allegations and counter-allegations against each other and the same has resulted in a trust deficit among the member countries. WTO started showing cracks much before Corona came in, as China and America got into tariff war in early 2019 and came up with various protectionist measures and retaliatory actions against each other. Their trade war engulfed the entire world including oil producing nations. WHO has lost its sheen in the current crisis and member countries are acting unilaterally and as a consequence, humanity is facing an existential crisis. Experts are predicting, in case this fear and panic prevails for another six months, even domestic health infrastructure will start falling in most developed nations. Each country is reinventing the wheel and wasting capital in reusable health infrastructure. Today when health gears, ventilators and other medical devices are scarce, at least 69 countries have banned or restricted these products. They are not realising that this is a battle of supremacy over products that may determine who lives and who dies.
To handle the crisis of this magnitude, the world needs these multilateral bodies working in a non-partisan manner. The large member nations have a far greater responsibility to work with such agencies without any prejudice and bias. History will remember the contribution of each nation in their cooperation in handling the COVID-19 crisis and we all will judge as to who cooperated and shared resources in this fight. The world order, in the last few decades, has worked well in the areas of health and trade. And disturbing this order, now in these times, is going to cost heavily on humanity and the economic front. Let us restore it!