S7 E26: The World Health Organization & Danbury Update: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

US News, Barrett Hearings, and Town Halls

• The US has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases, and Brazilian police allegedly caught a senator with cash hidden between his buttocks, while Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearings took place, featuring two days of questions and non-answers (38s).
• During the hearings, Barrett dodged almost every question, refused to acknowledge climate change as a scientific fact, and referred to gay people as having a "sexual preference" rather than orientation (1m33s).
• The Supreme Court hearings weren't the only question-and-answer sessions, as Trump and Biden held separate town halls on Thursday, originally intended to be a debate, but Trump pulled out and was rewarded with an hour of TV time by NBC (2m8s).
• Trump's town hall was light on policy details, with the president making few concrete promises for a second term, and instead focused on personal interactions, including complimenting a participant's smile (2m23s).

Trump and the WHO

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has been a target of criticism from Trump, who has called it a "puppet" and expressed unhappiness with its actions (4m11s).
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has been criticized by Donald Trump, who claims it has a close relationship with China, and as a result, Trump has formally pulled the United States out of the WHO in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic (4m54s).
• The US will be terminating its relationship with the WHO and redirecting funds to other global public health needs, which is considered bad news (5m1s).
• The WHO's Constitution does not include provisions for members to withdraw, but the US has a unique exception that allows it to withdraw after giving one year's notice, which was specified in a resolution passed decades ago (5m52s).
• Trump has submitted a notice of withdrawal to the UN, which will take effect next July, and the clock is ticking (6m25s).

The WHO: Its Role, Achievements, and Funding

• The WHO was founded in 1948 and has 194 member states, coordinating global responses to various health issues, including alerting the world to threats, fighting diseases, and improving access to care (6m48s).
• The WHO has the power to declare a public health emergency of international concern and issue recommendations, but it has no power to enforce those recommendations and can only act within a country to the extent that country allows it to (7m10s).
• Despite its limitations, the WHO has achieved significant successes, including the eradication of smallpox, which killed 300 million people in the 20th century alone, and was completely wiped out in a decade (7m42s).
• The World Health Organization (WHO) played a significant role in eradicating smallpox, which required a massive effort, including visiting 120 million houses in India every month for about 20 months, resulting in over a billion house calls (8m45s).
• The WHO's work involved arranging a collaboration between America and the USSR at the height of the Cold War to tackle the disease in countries like India (8m28s).
• The organization is also responsible for developing the seasonal flu vaccine, which involves convincing representatives from around the world to determine the flu virus strains for the annual flu shot twice a year (9m30s).
• The WHO tracks and responds to dozens of infectious disease outbreaks globally, including monkeypox, yellow fever, and an ongoing Ebola outbreak (9m51s).
• In the event of a pandemic, the WHO provides a critical role as a central clearinghouse of information, conducting investigations, and releasing information to the public (10m3s).
• The WHO operates on a current budget of $2.4 billion a year, which is comparable to the cost of running a single US hospital (10m14s).
• Despite its importance, the WHO has faced criticisms, including acting too slowly to declare a public health emergency during the 2014 Ebola outbreak (10m53s).
• The US pays a significant portion of the WHO's budget, between $400-500 million a year, while China pays around $38-40 million a year (11m8s).
• The issue of US funding has been a point of contention, with some arguing that the US should not be the primary contributor to the WHO's budget (11m33s).
• The US paid $446 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019, while China, the second-largest economy in the world, paid $43 million, a striking disparity rooted in how the WHO is funded (12m12s).
• The WHO's funding comes mainly from voluntary contributions, which allow countries to earmark exactly what they want their donations used for, whereas assessed contributions, or membership dues, make up only around 17% of its funding (12m39s).
• The US pays mostly voluntary contributions, while China chooses to pay almost nothing, and this funding model can be argued as a dumb way to fund an organization (13m1s).
• The WHO's funding issues are largely America's fault, dating back to the 1980s when the Reagan Administration pushed a zero-growth policy for the WHO's budget, freezing assessed contributions at 1990s levels (13m23s).
• This led to the WHO relying more on voluntary donations over the years, resulting in the current funding disparity between the US and China (13m40s).

Criticisms and Defense of the WHO

• The claim that the WHO is a "pipe organ for China" is not accurate, and the organization's subservience to China is an idea that has been hammered hard by Trump and his supporters (14m20s).
• The WHO did praise China's early response to the pandemic, but this was likely due to the need for diplomacy to gain access for on-the-ground investigations, and other countries, including the US, also praised China's response at the time (15m39s).
• The WHO's handling of the pandemic has been criticized, but the claim that the organization mishandled the pandemic due to deference to China is not entirely accurate (15m13s).
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has been working hard to address the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite some initial mistakes, it is getting the situation under control (16m14s).
• The WHO's mistakes included taking too long to advise universal mask-wearing and clearly acknowledge the threat of indoor airborne transmission, but there is no evidence that this was done to appease China (17m2s).

The US and Global Health

• The US has a checkered past in global health, including staging a fake vaccination campaign in Pakistan to gather DNA samples, which put health workers at risk and contributed to a major setback in polio vaccination efforts (18m59s).
• The US cannot simply "go it alone" in global health, as the WHO has a unique role that the US cannot replicate, and other countries are unlikely to welcome US-based alternatives (17m46s).
• The WHO's neutrality and lack of a history of invading nations or funding coups make it a more trusted and effective partner in global health efforts (18m15s).
• The US decision to leave the WHO and cut off its funding is widely seen as a mistake, with one official describing it as "almost impossible to get your head around" (19m29s).
• The decision to leave the WHO during a global pandemic is likened to "taking the fire engines away in the middle of fighting the fire" or "getting rid of the lifeboat while the boat is sinking" (19m49s).
• The World Health Organization (WHO) is close to eradicating polio, with Africa recently being declared polio-free and the global eradication goal set for 2023, but the US's sudden withdrawal of funding may hinder this progress (20m10s).
• The US is the second-largest funder of the global polio eradication initiative, and its withdrawal may set back efforts to eradicate the disease (20m29s).
• The US's problems with the WHO should be addressed through reform rather than withdrawal, as leaving the organization would mean giving up the country's seat at the table and its ability to influence decisions (20m52s).
• The US's withdrawal from the WHO is set to take effect on July 6th, 2021, if President Trump is re-elected, making the country's membership in the organization a key issue in the upcoming election (21m30s).
• The decision to withdraw from the WHO is considered ill-advised, especially during a pandemic that has killed over 200,000 Americans and a million people worldwide, as diseases do not recognize borders and the US is only as strong as its worst-prepared country (21m54s).
• The withdrawal from the WHO is seen as another example of President Trump's tendency to abandon international agreements and organizations, following his withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal (21m19s).

Danbury Names Sewage Plant After John Oliver

• The city of Danbury, Connecticut, responded to being insulted on the show by declaring that they would name their sewage plant the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant, but the mayor later revealed that this was just a joke (23m18s).
• In an effort to force the mayor's hand, a donation of $55,000 was offered to local charities on the condition that the sewage plant be named after John Oliver (23m30s).
• The city of Danbury has been engaged in a lighthearted feud with John Oliver, with the city council considering a proposal to name a sewage plant after him, which was made official (23m35s).
• The mayor of Danbury believes the feud is creating another tourist destination in the state, with plans to set up bleachers outside the sewage plant for visitors to watch the water filtration process (24m0s).
• Local businesses have started fundraising efforts in support of the proposal, raising $45,000 for area food banks, and the city's hockey team is selling special t-shirts benefiting ALS Connecticut (24m34s).
• The vote on the proposal was postponed until Thursday, during which some city council members expressed concerns about the humor and potential insults towards the community (24m56s).
• One council member stated that they did not find the humor funny and would be voting no, citing concerns about threatening violence towards children (25m11s).
• Another council member expressed pride in the city's waste treatment plant, describing it as an "amazing machine" that turns waste into drinkable water (25m41s).
• The council member who was initially opposed to the proposal eventually voted yes, but expressed hope that John Oliver would come to terms with his statements towards Danbury (26m37s).
• The proposal was ultimately passed, with 18 yes votes, one abstention, and one no vote, resulting in the sewage plant being named after John Oliver (26m51s).
• The city of Danbury, Connecticut, named a sewage plant after John Oliver, as he was considered the best option for the honor, with the resolution passing under the condition that he would be physically present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony (27m6s).
• The ceremony took place, with John Oliver attending and meeting Mayor Mark Boughton, who welcomed him to the city and officially named the sewage plant the "John Oliver Memorial SE Plant" (28m12s).
• John Oliver expressed his pride in having his name on the sewage plant, stating that it represents the ability to take the worst of humanity and transform it into something livable, which is inspirational, especially at the end of a difficult year (28m48s).
• He also emphasized the importance of coming together, overcoming differences, and finding solutions, which is symbolized by the sewage plant's function (29m13s).
• The ceremony concluded with John Oliver thanking the city of Danbury for the honor and expressing his pride in being associated with the sewage plant (29m25s).