Nouvelles

Dear Editor,

Since the first disclosures of coronavirus cases in late 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been at the heart of many discussions regarding its leadership and legitimacy. The WHO's recommendations and guidelines for Member States to counter the pandemic have come under scrutiny from the media, experts, or public and political representatives - sometimes with strong criticism (e.g., regarding information sharing, timelines for action, or lack of authority) [1], [2]. As an international health crisis, this pandemic was an opportunity to test the impact of the WHO and to further reveal its strengths and weaknesses. It is therefore essential to learn from this global crisis to improve global health governance and rethink the leadership of the WHO. In this perspective, an international conference was organized on March 24, 2022¹, around the core question “Is the WHO healthy?”. Based on the discussions from this conference, we found that a key question remains open and deserves international attention: should the WHO's leadership be enhanced, how and why?