The Right to Health Sovereignty
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL
An International Health Organization built on sovereignty, subsidiarity, and ethics would integrate universal moral principles (beneficence, non-maleficence, confidentiality,... Read more.
The International Health Reform Project (IHRP) brings together a multidisciplinary and multinational panel with experience in international health, law, and the function of international organizations across several regions. The panel is examining the fundamental principles of human rights, sovereignty, and public health ethics upon which a global health organization should be run and how the WHO currently fails to adhere to these. The WHO has drifted far from its roots as an organization solely controlled by member states and based on accepted post-World War Two principles and ethics. A clear review of this drift will help determine whether the necessary reform is feasible within the WHO, or a new and more appropriate structure needs to be developed.
The review is addressing funding and conflict of interest, the requirement for state-based control and accountability, and the need for capacity building at the national level to reduce donor dependency and build self-sufficiency. A strong platform for urgent but positive reform is needed to ensure that the current opportunity presented by an international order under stress, the US withdrawal, and wider disquiet is not wasted.