The Transformation of the WHO

Eric Laroche, Director-General for Health Action in Crisis of the World Health Organization (WHO), spoke at United Nations headquarters in New York today regarding the gradual transformation of the WHO. 

According to Mr. Laroche, the WHO “has completely changed [personnel] over the past two or three months.”  With the increased threat of climate change, Mr. Laroche spoke of how new priorities will result in an increased presence in countries affected by disaster, and more engagement in piratical and political solutions to disease.

The WHO seems to be looking beyond just climate change. In response to increased proliferation of disease, the Director-General expressed a desire to develop a “new framework” for all disasters, not just climate change.

At the forefront of the WHO’s priorities are concerns about climate change and global food security.  The Director-General spoke bluntly about a foreseen increase in diseases like diarrhea, malaria, and asthma, and pledged to work with local governments and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) in finding hyper-local solutions.  “We have to work with the institutions, for the institutions,” stated Mr. Laroche. In it’s renewed ambition to work with well-informed, on-the-ground actors, Mr. Laroche spoke of working with NGOs to “find the right policy.”