Health governance in the public interest?
Health governance in the public interest?
WHO redefines conflicts of interest and risks undermining public health mandates
Ever since public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been hailed as a key policy model, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been promising to upgrade its conflict of interest measures to ensure its mandate is not jeopardized by overly close relationships with private sector actors. WHO has not honoured these promises and the world has failed to pay attention.
Instead, a dangerous policy shift has occurred. WHO has moved from neglecting conflict of interest issues to blurring the entire conflict of interest concept. Warnings about the risk this shift poses to WHO’s integrity, independence, and trustworthiness have been ignored.
Speakers
Judith Richter
PhD Soc.Sc. MSc, Senior Researcher for civic engagement, and other public interest safeguards, in a stake-holderising world
David Miller
Professor of Sociology, has written widely on issues of communication and power, including on the lobby strategies of the alcohol and food industries
David Klemperer
Professor of Public Health and Health Sciences, MD, has long contributed to awareness-raising on conflict of interest issues in the medical community
Alessia Bigi
MA, IBFAN-GIFA, Global Liaison Office