5 ms·

They are so discredited now, now one listens to them.

by SomeoneFromCA 6y ago

runawaybottle 6y ago
You’d think a Pandemic would be their time to shine, but they really didn’t meet the moment.
- Applethief 6y ago
  Yes, exactly.
malloryerik 6y ago
Don't think that's fair at all. It rather sounds like partisan political positioning. Indeed I doubt that leaders in any country that made a strong and effective response to the virus would try to discredit the WHO. I'm in South Korea and know that the WHO has been absolutely crucial to the successful and ongoing response to the novel coronavirus here. Ask and I will supply a slide deck of evidence. As merely one example South Korea had a working test in two weeks because of WHO data and indeed Chinese data shared through the WHO. Without the WHO it's likely we in South Korea would have to have had a lockdown. The WHO weren't perfect, they were human. They have limits and they can't really criticize member states. And how about the US response (your moniker implies you're from the US)? To be quite honest, I find the WHO response flawed but essential. The USA's medical/epidemiological response was/is almost, I mean I want to say... criminally negligent. Beyond flawed. The financial response is another story. But the US didn't even try to make tests until it was way too late, indeed avoided and inhibited testing (remember "I like the numbers where they are"?), still hasn't instituted a national tracing program or a coordination of municipal tracing programs (which are pathetically weak in general), had already disabled its own pandemic response team if I recall, bickered and argued amongst itself while its own citizens were dying, lied and denied, had top leaders (indeed the top leader) claiming on television initially that the virus didn't exist and was a hoax, then that it was all China's fault for doing the same things that the US did (lying and denying), had a large amount of the population refusing to wear face masks because a medical issue had been irreparably politicized, and then when the entire world is in the pangs of this plague actually defunded the WHO, blaming the doctor for the disease. Among South Koreans I have heard again and again, "Is the US really an advanced nation? How can they be so incompetent and callous?" And South Korea is usually among the world's most pro-US countries. So, maybe recall the Christian parable about criticizing the splinter in your brother's eye and never noticing the plank in your own? If the WHO is discredited, then the US... I know this sounds ranty, but please, please, enough is enough. Does this matter to Hacker News people? Well, it's gotten to the point that yes, it matters a lot. Oh by the way part of the US coronavirus response has been to attack skilled immigration, immigration bans that the likes of Stephen Miller hope to render permanent. That's a boon for US tech? Here's a Der Spiegel article in English about the WHO response. https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/europe-made-mistakes-too-interview-with-former-who-head-gro-harlem-brundtland-a-312827ff-3db0-4dbd-9d9e-fa32cbf19119 https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/europe-made-mista...
- 0xy 6y ago
  WHO claimed publicly that China was transparent and their data was delivered fast and accurately, meanwhile the firehose of leaks from the WHO and intelligence sources proves all that was a shameless lie. The WHO is an utterly discredited and ethically bankrupt organisation. It exists as a tool for China to manipulate into making it look like there isn't a huge cover up, nothing more. According to many intelligence sources, China has repeatedly and systematically lied about their numbers. How many thousands died as a result of this deception, and from WHO's active participation in the cover up?
pengaru 6y ago
Well now that they've been severely defunded by the USA everything coming out of them is especially suspect as propaganda resulting from that leverage. The American president wants scapegoats for his failings, and despite completely ignoring the WHO recommendations at the start of the pandemic, he's turned the WHO into one.
- SomeoneFromCA 6y ago
  Every recommendation coming out of WHO was bad so far. Especially to not close borders with China.
  - ta17711771 6y ago
    Yet ten years ago, people would look at you like three heads if you said the WHO was a globalist entourage...
  - pengaru 6y ago
    Every? B.S. On Jan. 30 the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. That announcement is a trigger for the agency’s member governments to follow its recommendations. These include establishing a comprehensive programme of testing, quarantining people suspected to be infected, and tracing their contacts. The US completely ignored it, while Germany, Signapore, South Korea, didn't. Nobody is claiming the WHO is perfect, but come on, this is such political hogwash.
    - SomeoneFromCA 6y ago
      Really how about this: https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/who-chief-urges-countries-not-close-borders-foreigners-china https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/...
    - _-david-_ 6y ago
      The US cannot do a lot of things. The individual states in the US can do things. Trump closed the borders at the end of January which is basically all he could do.

They are so discredited now, now one listens to them.

runawaybottle 6y ago

You’d think a Pandemic would be their time to shine, but they really didn’t meet the moment.

Applethief 6y ago
Yes, exactly.

malloryerik 6y ago

Don't think that's fair at all. It rather sounds like partisan political positioning. Indeed I doubt that leaders in any country that made a strong and effective response to the virus would try to discredit the WHO. I'm in South Korea and know that the WHO has been absolutely crucial to the successful and ongoing response to the novel coronavirus here. Ask and I will supply a slide deck of evidence. As merely one example South Korea had a working test in two weeks because of WHO data and indeed Chinese data shared through the WHO. Without the WHO it's likely we in South Korea would have to have had a lockdown. The WHO weren't perfect, they were human. They have limits and they can't really criticize member states. And how about the US response (your moniker implies you're from the US)? To be quite honest, I find the WHO response flawed but essential. The USA's medical/epidemiological response was/is almost, I mean I want to say... criminally negligent. Beyond flawed. The financial response is another story. But the US didn't even try to make tests until it was way too late, indeed avoided and inhibited testing (remember "I like the numbers where they are"?), still hasn't instituted a national tracing program or a coordination of municipal tracing programs (which are pathetically weak in general), had already disabled its own pandemic response team if I recall, bickered and argued amongst itself while its own citizens were dying, lied and denied, had top leaders (indeed the top leader) claiming on television initially that the virus didn't exist and was a hoax, then that it was all China's fault for doing the same things that the US did (lying and denying), had a large amount of the population refusing to wear face masks because a medical issue had been irreparably politicized, and then when the entire world is in the pangs of this plague actually defunded the WHO, blaming the doctor for the disease. Among South Koreans I have heard again and again, "Is the US really an advanced nation? How can they be so incompetent and callous?" And South Korea is usually among the world's most pro-US countries. So, maybe recall the Christian parable about criticizing the splinter in your brother's eye and never noticing the plank in your own? If the WHO is discredited, then the US... I know this sounds ranty, but please, please, enough is enough. Does this matter to Hacker News people? Well, it's gotten to the point that yes, it matters a lot. Oh by the way part of the US coronavirus response has been to attack skilled immigration, immigration bans that the likes of Stephen Miller hope to render permanent. That's a boon for US tech? Here's a Der Spiegel article in English about the WHO response. https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/europe-made-mistakes-too-interview-with-former-who-head-gro-harlem-brundtland-a-312827ff-3db0-4dbd-9d9e-fa32cbf19119 https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/europe-made-mista...

0xy 6y ago
WHO claimed publicly that China was transparent and their data was delivered fast and accurately, meanwhile the firehose of leaks from the WHO and intelligence sources proves all that was a shameless lie. The WHO is an utterly discredited and ethically bankrupt organisation. It exists as a tool for China to manipulate into making it look like there isn't a huge cover up, nothing more. According to many intelligence sources, China has repeatedly and systematically lied about their numbers. How many thousands died as a result of this deception, and from WHO's active participation in the cover up?

pengaru 6y ago

Well now that they've been severely defunded by the USA everything coming out of them is especially suspect as propaganda resulting from that leverage. The American president wants scapegoats for his failings, and despite completely ignoring the WHO recommendations at the start of the pandemic, he's turned the WHO into one.

SomeoneFromCA 6y ago
Every recommendation coming out of WHO was bad so far. Especially to not close borders with China.
- ta17711771 6y ago
  Yet ten years ago, people would look at you like three heads if you said the WHO was a globalist entourage...
- pengaru 6y ago
  Every? B.S. On Jan. 30 the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. That announcement is a trigger for the agency’s member governments to follow its recommendations. These include establishing a comprehensive programme of testing, quarantining people suspected to be infected, and tracing their contacts. The US completely ignored it, while Germany, Signapore, South Korea, didn't. Nobody is claiming the WHO is perfect, but come on, this is such political hogwash.
  - SomeoneFromCA 6y ago
    Really how about this: https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/who-chief-urges-countries-not-close-borders-foreigners-china https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/...
  - _-david-_ 6y ago
    The US cannot do a lot of things. The individual states in the US can do things. Trump closed the borders at the end of January which is basically all he could do.