Global Health Watch 1 in one file

21 WHO – up in the clouds?
Reactions have been mixed to this idea of WHO as a ‘world policeman’
but director-general Lee at least agrees that ‘business as usual’ will not do.
He promises a return to the aims and ethical commitments of Health for All
– scale-up of health systems, guided by the principles and practice of primary
health care, adapted to a rapidly changing health landscape and delivered
through synergizing swift responses to health emergencies with long-term
strengthening of health infrastructure. Asserting that a world torn by gross
health inequalities is in serious trouble, he asks whether WHO and its partners
are up to the challenge, and gives his answer: ‘We have to be’ (Lee 2003).
Yet can WHO make the enormous internal shifts in culture and practice and
develop the leadership capacity essential at all levels to turn Dr Lee’s rhetoric
into reality – to drive good global health governance, secure the necessary
resources and deliver effective programmes? And can the other global health
leaders sink their differences to support WHO and each other in a new spirit
of co-operation and commitment? The prospects for WHO reform will now be
considered with reference to its resources, internal environment and political
context.
Inadequate resources
Standing in the marble halls of WHO headquarters in Geneva, or seeing
a WHO official check in to fly business class to a distant location, it is hard
to imagine that the organization is in a long-running funding crisis. But
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