The World Health Organization should look in the mirror regarding COVID ‘misinformation’
Christopher Tremoglie
The World Health Organization’s inconsistent messaging about the COVID pandemic continued on Monday as WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the virus is still considered a global health emergency as the pandemic enters its fourth year. However, Tedros also expressed optimism that this will be the year in which the world finally transitions out of the “emergency phase.” This comes after Friday’s statement in which Tedros warned that COVID misinformation was still a problem causing people to die.
THE WHO THINKS ‘ANTI-VACCINE ACTIVISM’ IS DEADLIER THAN TERRORISM
Given these statements, is it any wonder people have been so confused all these years? It was an emotional roller coaster of comments from the WHO. Particularly troubling, however, was its position on misinformation.
“Do not underestimate this virus,” Tedros said during a press conference in Geneva on Friday. “It has and will continue to surprise us, and it will continue to kill unless we do more to get health tools to people that need them and to comprehensively tackle misinformation.”
But when Tedros mentions misinformation, it doesn’t seem he is referring to the misinformation that came from the WHO. Failing to do so is intellectually disingenuous, given the organization’s repeated failures and mistakes during the pandemic. They have had their fair share of what should be considered “misinformation.”
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was also critical of the WHO’s pandemic response. He is a professor of health policy at Stanford University. His most recent research analyzed the “epidemiology of COVID as well as an evaluation of policy responses to the epidemic.” He told me the WHO shared blame for the misinformation crisis surrounding the virus.
“The WHO failed in its management of the pandemic,” Bhattacharya told me. “It countenanced lockdowns to suppress viral spread while ignoring the tremendous collateral harm done to every poor person by the economic and social dislocation caused by these policies. The WHO ignored scientific evidence on the importance of immunity after COVID recovery in its advice regarding vaccine prioritization.”
Unfortunately, this was a large part of the problem during the pandemic. In a rush to blame others, the experts, such as Tedros, never took any responsibility for “spreading misinformation.” They failed to acknowledge or admit any wrongdoing. If the WHO truly wants to avoid repeating the mistakes of this pandemic, it must be honest about its failures and problems.
“In 2020, the WHO incorrectly altered its definition of herd immunity to exclude immunity induced by disease recovery. The public has lost trust in the WHO because of its lack of commitment to accurate scientific information and its poor public health guidance during the pandemic,” Bhattacharya said. “It is in no position to decry misinformation in the public when it has done its share to contribute to the problem.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER