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(1/X) Lots of talk about this, so I’m starting a thread on @WHO's actions that appeared to help China downplay the outbreak & as a result delay international response. Make your own judgment as to whether WHO has put politics before public health. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/world/asia/trump-who-coronavirus-china.html
(2/X) WHO Director-General Tedros has repeatedly praised China’s “transparency” & speedy action in dealing with the virus while saying nothing abt Beijing’s suppression of information, or its punishment of whistleblowers who tried to warn about the virus. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-officials-note-serious-problems-in-coronavirus-response-the-world-health-organization-keeps-praising-them/2020/02/08/b663dd7c-4834-11ea-91ab-ce439aa5c7c1_story.html
(3/X) On Jan 14, WHO endorsed China’s denial of human-to-human transmission while the first person who died in China from virus on Jan 9 had passed it to his wife a week prior. Also, there had already been health care workers infected in China by Jan 11. https://www.vox.com/2020/2/10/21124881/coronavirus-outbreak-china-li-wenliang-world-health-organization
(4/X) The WHO only confirmed human-to-human infection on Jan. 21, following China’s admission on January 20. https://twitter.com/WHOWPRO/status/1219478547644813312?s=20
(5/X) On Jan. 23, WHO chief Tedros claimed that the outbreak was not yet a global health emergency & there was “no evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China.” By then, confirmed cases had been reported in seven countries, including the US. https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/01/1055891
(6/X) Wording compromises were made in the Feb. WHO-China joint mission report to accommodate the Chinese position. Chinese officials did not want to refer to the pathogen as “dangerous” and refused to include any reference to a “second wave.” They won. https://www.ft.com/content/2a70a02a-644a-11ea-a6cd-df28cc3c6a68
(7/X) When the US announced a ban on most foreign nationals who had recently visited China, WHO Director-General Tedros said travel restrictions were unnecessary & could “have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit.” https://thehill.com/opinion/international/487851-china-and-the-whos-chief-hold-them-both-accountable-for-pandemic
(8/X) WHO continues to follow Beijing’s party line by excluding Taiwan, a positive example in dealing with the crisis. A recent example: WHO official Bruce Aylward’s disastrous interview in which he couldn’t utter the "T-word"! https://twitter.com/ezracheungtoto/status/1243869774410469376?s=20
(9/X) Bruce Aylward’s inability to discuss Taiwan is NOT a random episode. It is an institutional problem—it reflects the approach among WHO officials that treats Taiwan as a taboo in any discussion, worrying about Beijing’s fire and fury.
(10/X) As mentioned in my earlier tweets, Tedros was elected as the first WHO Director-General from Africa in 2017 thanks to the backing of the global South together with China. Beijing helped him defeat the UK candidate. There you go. https://twitter.com/yujiechentw/status/1245007825362751488?s=20
(11/11) To conclude here, I'm not playing the blame game, but I'm indeed asking for @WHO's accountability, as so many of us are doing now. The world deserves a WHO that puts public health before politics.
