A Consideration on International Organizations in Global Governance in the field of International Public Health: WHO and the EU

Abstract

   This paper examines the way of “global governance” promoted by international organizations in the field of public health, by focusing on how WHO and the European Union have tackled with public health issues. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a doubt on the leadership of WHO in the emergency of international public health, and it also triggered a criticism on WHO. However, international organizations usually have restricted power and financial resources, and “global governance” does not indicate a situation that a sole actor controls and governs international problem and concern. We need to consider international organizations in a broad context of the development of global governance in the field of international public health when we examine/evaluate the role of international organizations in the time of COVID-19 pandemic.

   This paper exhibits that WHO has broadened the issues and topics and has also developed collaborations between non-state actors to tackle with such issues and topics in times of peace. But, in times of emergency, the international health regulation (IHR), but not WHO itself, could not overcome its old-fashioned regulatory concepts of “Trade/movement or quarantine”, although the speed and amounts of trade as well as travel/migration have drastically changed after the rising of Chinese economy in the 21st century. The European Union’s case also exhibits that the EU has successfully developed its policy framework in the field of public health in times of peace, but that such policy framework is vulnerable to an emergency, especially the emergency that attributes to external incidents. When the EU was confronted with public health emergency from the outside, its internal market, where free movement of persons, goods, services and capitals are assured, was hardly maintained.

   WHO and the EU have prepared its regulations for the emergency of public health, but they are international law/agreements that require member states’ ratifications as well as implementation/compliance. When we want to reform the current political arrangement on the emergency of international public health, we must talk much about such regulation, rather than international organization itself, and such talks and examinations focus on member states’ readiness and implementation/compliance rather than leadership of international organizations.