The World Health Organization has hindered rather than helped the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
U-turns on fundamental questions have plagued our ability to look to a robust & consistent global health body for support.
By issuing guidance against widespread use of face-masks, as well as against sealing national borders during pandemic's provenance were especially damaging.
It appears that since then WHO - instead of mobilising efforts to fast-track meaningful studies, has opted to waste time & resources gathering 'sufficient' evidence to inform & support both u-turns.
(I wonder what evidence was used to inform the original advice? Even if such evidence does indeed exist, it has been - by definition - discredited, & so alas is neither here nor there.)
A recent negative study on Hydroxychloroquine led to WHO suspending recruitment within the Hydroxychloroquine arm in its SOLIDARITY Randomized Clinical Trial.
The study in question has been criticised heavily - so much so that WHO (once again) reversed this decision.
While some may commend the speed with which WHO reacts to new 'evidence', others cite this as another testament to the obscurity and sheer fragility, with respect to operation and the decision making process within the agency.
Measures to contain a contagious infection, including wearing a face mask & by restricting unnecessary travel seem bloody obvious.
Going forward, the purist ivory tower epidemiologists within WHO must accept to address urgently the clinical need for valuable data might come at the price of lower certainty than which we are normally comfortable.
Is WHO winging it? Probably.
#WHO #COVID19 #coronavirus #WorldHealthOrganization #Health #Wellness #MD #StudentMD #USMLE #pandemic #SARSCOV2 #ARDS #cytokinestorm #IL6 #hydroxychloroquine