LONDON, Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Action on World Health (AWH), the international campaign group committed to reforming the World Health Organization (WHO), has launched the ‘Bell Review’; a working group of 9 experts including former WHO and United Nations (UN) officers and advisors, who will recommend proposals to either radically reform, or replace, the WHO.
Led by Dr David Bell, a former WHO medical officer and scientist with extensive experience in international health foundations and philanthropic institutions, the working group will examine how an international health organization, jointly controlled by Member States, should operate to most effectively address global disease burdens and priorities. It will then determine whether such reform is feasible, given the WHO’s current approach (or suggest what other structure might serve the international community instead).
Dr David Bell has assembled an expert team, including former WHO and UN officials, and consultants from the fields of academia, public health and international law, who are passionate about the world’s health but concerned with the direction of its institutional structures. Like AWH, they believe that the WHO should reflect the will and well-being of sovereign individuals, communities, and the national governments who represent them – instead of imposing its will on them. The ‘Bell Review’ working group, basing its approach on established best principles and practices for international public health, will systematically examine the WHO’s current approach:
Phase 1 (reporting in five months):
1. The principles for an international health organization to adhere to
2. The purpose of an International Health Organization
3. What the place of the WHO in the international health landscape should be
4. Better governance
5. Where the WHO is succeeding and failing
Phase 2 (reporting in ten months):
6. Addressing the WHO’s limitations and key drivers of failure
7. The necessary approaches to reforming (or replacing) the WHO
AWH Co-founder and Chairman, Nigel Farage, commented: “With Donald Trump in The White House, this is a once in a generation opportunity to reform the WHO. Founded on noble principles, it has repeatedly let the world down, whilst building a billion-dollar global health empire that takes power away from countries and their citizens. Our highly respected group of experts, assembled by David, will recommend reforms that respect national sovereignty and stop interference in people’s lives. The bureaucrats who run the WHO can no longer ignore the growing dissatisfaction from people across the world. It either reforms or gets replaced!”
Dr David Bell added: “I and my colleagues have been increasingly concerned with the departure of the WHO from its roots. Only through the right set of reforms can the WHO return to core public health principles and its reputation be saved. Or a body more fit for purpose and reflective of the will of the world’s peoples replaces it.”
To learn more about the Bell Review, visit www.actionwh.org.
Action on World Health is an international campaign group committed to reforming the World Health Organization (WHO).
Our Mission
• Take Back Control – Health policies that infringe on national sovereignty must remain under the control of nation states – not unelected global bodies. Instead of one-size-fits-all treaties and mandates that dictate or put pressure on governments to implement public health measures that interfere with domestic policies, the WHO should advise and facilitate international cooperation;
• Stop The Failures – National politicians should hold those responsible for the WHO’s failings during COVID-19 to account, and reform its processes so the next pandemic is either prevented, identified and/or treated more quickly and effectively;
• Cut Costs – ending the enormous amount wasted on luxury travel and thousands of staff; with countries cutting their contributions to all non-essential programs; and ending the funding by private citizens, corporations, and other non-State actors to avoid them gaining influence;
• Restore Freedoms – Bodily autonomy, individual freedom, and personal responsibility are principles that no organization should undermine, especially an unelected and unaccountable one. Public health decisions and policies should be made by nation states, and a review is needed among all countries to determine which powers need repatriating to their citizens.
• Stop The “Pandemic Treaty” – The proposed new Pandemic Preparedness Treaty, and amendments to International Health Regulations (IHR) agreed at the 77th World Health Assembly in June 2024, will hand over unprecedented powers from countries to the WHO if they are not stopped. They would allow the WHO to dictate national public health policies and restrict fundamental freedoms in a future pandemic. The WHO should not be dictating terms to countries and their citizens, so we call upon national governments which have until April 2025 to reject the IHR amendments and instruct the WHO to cancel the “Pandemic Treaty”.
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SOURCE AWH
