Photo/Illutration Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, speaks during a news conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva on March 9. (AP file photo)

The World Health Organization should be in the forefront of the global battle against COVID-19. But it has come under harsh criticism, especially from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened to withdraw U.S. funding to the WHO and accused it of being "very China-centric."

The WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is vehemently challenging the accusation.

An Ethiopian microbiologist, Adhanom was the nation's health minister  from 2005 to 2012, when he earned global recognition for his successful health care initiatives for pregnant women.

With Japanese aid, Adhanom mobilized an ambulance fleet of more than 200 large Toyota vehicles, and reduced Ethiopia's infant mortality rate.

When the COVID-19 crisis erupted, Adhanom openly praised the Chinese government for taking "many good steps to slow the spread of infections," referring in particular to placing the city of Wuhan in Hebei province under "lockdown."

His remarks triggered widespread outrage and demands for his resignation. He even received death threats.

Headquartered in Switzerland, the WHO was established in April 1948 as an organ of the United Nations. Today, its membership consists of more than 190 nations.

The eradication of smallpox in 1979 was one of its most celebrated achievements.

Lately, however, the WHO has been likened to "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" for its overreaction to the COVID-19 crisis.

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in late March called for the creation of a temporary form of global government to tackle the coronavirus, implying that the world needs a unified entity with greater power and authority than the WHO to overcome the pandemic.

Brown's proposal is certainly grand and ambitious. But its realization won't be easy, given the strained relationship between the United States and China.

The virus does not discriminate rich nations from poor nations, and crosses national borders with abandon. And it certainly cannot be stopped with the "my country first" mentality that is now spreading around the world.

Now is not the time to keep antagonizing the WHO and Adhanom.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 11

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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