by Will Jones, Daily Sceptic:

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” observed the English historian, Lord Acton, writing to a friend in 1857. This widely-quoted aphorism should lead us to reflect on the absolute powers that the World Health Organisation is currently seeking for its Director-General (DG). The organisation has abandoned the broad, interdisciplinary vision of health based on primary care and public engagement that characterised its original mission and was expressed in the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978. What we now see is a top-down, command-and-control approach, based on a narrow scientific base and the preferences, or prejudices, of a few major donors. This model has palpably failed to deliver in times of crisis. If the response is to strengthen the powers of command, can the organisation be trusted to use these wisely, responsibly and effectively?