COVID Was the Biggest Event Since WW2 — And We've Learned Nothing | IEA Podcast

About this episode

Dr Christopher Snowdon interviews Roger Bate about the failures of the WHO during COVID and the need for reform or replacement.

In this Institute of Economic Affairs interview, Dr Christopher Snowdon speaks with Roger Bate, Fellow at the International Centre for Law and Economics and former IEA Fellow, about the failures of the World Health Organisation during COVID and the case for fundamental reform — or outright replacement. They discuss the International Health Reform Panel, a new group co-chaired by former WHO insider David Bell and former UN Assistant Secretary General Ramesh Tacker, which is pushing for a first-principles reassessment of what a global health body should actually do. Roger sets out how the WHO’s funding model has shifted dramatically over its 80-year history, with over 80% of its budget now coming from voluntary donors including the Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the European Commission rather than nation states. He argues this has left the organisation aligned to donor priorities rather than public health needs, contributing to its failures on COVID — from dismissing the airborne nature of the virus to going along with Chinese-style lockdowns while abandoning its own pandemic playbooks. The conversation also covers the ongoing pandemic treaty negotiations, the WHO’s…

People in this episode

Host: Dr Christopher Snowdon

Guest: Roger Bate

Topics covered

• COVID-19
• World Health Organisation
• global health reform
• pandemic response
• tobacco harm reduction
• philanthropy in health

Keywords

• COVID-19
• WHO
• global health
• pandemic treaty
• tobacco harm reduction
• philanthropy
• health reform

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: World Health Organisation, International Centre for Law and Economics, Institute of Economic Affairs, Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, European Commission

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