Is it time to start an apolitical, decentralized version of WHO?

Question

There has been a lot of red flags on the WHO recently, from misreporting data [1, 2] to confusing guidance on masks [3] to the controversial case of Taiwan [4, 5].Does anyone here feel that such bureaucracies wouldn't/shouldn't survive long? And that they could be easily replaced by an efficiently-operated, software-powered non-profit (something similar to Our World in Data)?One starting point that I could get couple universities and hospitals behind is a simple portal for any medical staff around the world to report severe flu or whatnot cases (with anonymized record/evidence) that they suspect to be a stem for a new disease outbreak.Would anyone here be interested in helping to build such initiative? Or any thoughts? Suggestions? Counter-arguments?--[1] https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-source-data#world-health-organization-who-situation-reports-our-previous-data-source[2] https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/14/asia/coronavirus-who-china-intl-hnk/index.html[3] https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/03/11/whos-confusing-guidance-masks-covid-19-epidemic/[4] https://in.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-taiwan-who/taiwan-says-who-not-sharing-coronavirus-information-it-provides-pressing-complaints-idINKBN21H1BS[5] https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/14/asia/coronavirus-who-china-intl-hnk/index.html

bjourne · Accepted Answer

I can only speak for myself, but the "red flags" that you speak of [1-5] aren't very convincing to me. That there are errors in WHOs data isn't surprising, nor that it needs to make pragmatic decisions in trying to get authoritarian regimes to cooperate. That WHOs guidance sometimes is confusing is what you'd expect from a world-wide organization in large part made up of volunteers run on a relatively tiny budget.
Unless you are an expert in epidemology or international humanitarian politics, I don't think the organization you would form would do a better job than WHO. Therefore I'm not interested in helping you.
If you want to help improve worldwide health then you could enroll in one of its many volunteer programs. That way, you would gain valuable experience in how the organization operates which would help you if you decide to create an alternative.

codingdave · Answer

> easily replaced by an efficiently-operated, software-powered non-profit
No, one of the biggest problems I see in our industry is startups jumping into problem spaces they do not fully understand, and flailing around for a year or so, maybe getting enough people talking to them to refine their product, learn their own market, and finally get "product/market fit". Maybe.
I don't feel that we should try to replace the WHO with such a failure-prone process just because they have some problems. I do feel that you can certainly start down that path with a long-term goal to learn that space and improve upon it... but it will be a journey, not a quick fix.
It cannot be simplified down to: "bureaucracy is broken, lets replace it with some code."

dragonwriter · Answer

What WHO does is intergovernmental public health coordination. It is inherently a political function. The decentralized version is just local public health authorities acting without the WHO.

aww_dang · Answer

How do you propose to keep it apolitical? Even Wikipedia has a political slant.I agree with your concerns, but I don't know if what you propose can keep politics out. It is still probably worth a shot either way.

kleer001 · Answer

Sounds great. I love it. Sadly I fear that's not really how humans work. Very motivated, intelligent, and well meaning humans have been trying for centuries to decouple function from politics. It's not going to be solved by any technology or technique we have today.But that's only my ignorant opinion.

krapp · Answer

What would this organization's apolitical policy be regarding Taiwan?