Merkel, Macron back efforts to improve WHO

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday were among leaders rallying around efforts to strengthen the World Health Organization (WHO) and the world’s ability to prepare for and defend against pandemics. It came as the UN health agency opened its annual assembly, with a draft resolution in the works that acknowledges missteps in the response to Covid-19. The sweeping proposal would seek to boost pandemic response, stabilize WHO's funding and ensure greater access to health care — including to vaccines, tests and treatments linked to the coronavirus.

The European Union and Vanuatu were behind the resolution, which was to be considered during the eight-day assembly. It would create a working group on strengthening WHO’s readiness and response to health emergencies. “We have to have institutions that are up to the task, that meet our ambitions,” Macron said by video during the virtual meeting. WHO, he said, must be “robust” and “flexible” in times of emergency and crisis. “And it must be completely transparent to make sure that people trust the organization." "There must not be any political pressure and there must not be any suspicion of pressure that has been exerted,” he added. Merkel threw her backing behind the idea of a “global health threat council” and said leaders should provide WHO with “lasting financial and personal support.” “We have been talking about this for years, but now it is all the more important to act,” she said.

The resolution, which would set up a six-person working group to report to the assembly next year, acknowledged “serious shortcomings” in the world’s ability to prepare, prevent, detect and respond to health emergencies. Diplomats behind the measure said they hoped it could garner consensus among WHO's 194 member states.