Too big to ail

摘要

Perched on a hill in Geneva above the city's cluster of international agencies, the modernist headquarters of the World Health Organisation (who, pictured above) seems a manifestation of the organisation's grand mission: to lead the world on health. But nearby sits a stinging reminder of its shortcomings. Visitors to the who must first pass the headquarters of unaids, which was set up separately after a widespread loss of faith in the who's ability to tackle the aids epidemic. Two decades after that failure, many health experts fear history is repeating itself. After an outbreak of Ebola was identified in west Africa in March, the who's response was slow, disorganised and lacking in leadership. In September Ban Ki-moon, the un secretary-general, set up an independent Ebola mission.