The world\u2019s leading health organization, the WHO, repeatedly broke its own rules and spent millions of dollars on high-priced management consultants, according to a new independent audit \u2014 even as the United Nations agency has struggled to pay for lifesaving equipment and vaccines in its global Covid-19 response.<\/p>\n
An unnamed consulting company, which Vox has identified as BCG, charged the World Health Organization $11.72 million since the start of the pandemic for contracts that were dubiously awarded, according to the audit. <\/p>\n
These revelations, which one expert called \u201cdisturbing\u201d in an interview with Vox, came after a Vox investigation showed how management consulting firms such as BCG and McKinsey have become ubiquitous in global public health organizations, despite the concerns of many health practitioners about multimillion-dollar price tags, potential conflicts of interest, and the opaque nature of consulting work.<\/p>\n
WHO researchers told Vox that the auditor report raised questions about the agency\u2019s ability to responsibly and transparently spend public money from the 194 member countries that fund it. In recent months, the WHO has requested donations from its members and the general public, citing a funding gap of more than a billion dollars for its pandemic response.<\/p>\n
Given that the WHO\u2019s 2020-21 budget is $5.84 billion, $12 million may not sound like a massive amount \u2014 \u201cbut $12 million for a health care system in a low-income country would comprise a significant portion of their funding,\u201d says Adam Kamradt-Scott, the incoming global health chair at the School of Transnational Governance in Florence, who studies the WHO. That amount could pay for about 600,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer\/BioNTech or Moderna. (The WHO is part of Covax, whose aim is to ensure all countries have equitable access to vaccines.) \u201cIf it\u2019s money being wasted, that\u2019s a lot of vaccines that could have been purchased,\u201d Kamradt-Scott added.<\/p>\n
The audit, which examines a sampling of the WHO\u2019s biggest contracts, analyzed the agency\u2019s work with BCG, known as \u201cConsulting Firm A\u201d in the report, and uncovered multiple violations of WHO policies. The auditors claim WHO staff sought to circumvent the organization\u2019s public procurement rules in order to help BCG win a contract. Staff at the agency also broke WHO rules by repeatedly starting work with the firm before seeking formal approval to do so, according to the report. <\/p>\n
Before the pandemic, Vox revealed the WHO committed at least $12 million on consultants to support the agency\u2019s reform, approximately a quarter of which has been paid for directly by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. At the time, a WHO spokesperson said the agency welcomed consultants\u2019 work. \u201cThe [consulting] companies have supported WHO in areas where we lack in-house expertise or want to tap the current best-in-class standards.\u201d <\/p>\n
But controversy has surrounded high-priced consultants in a field dedicated to improving the health of the world\u2019s poorest people. The consulting firm McKinsey advised the Trump administration on how to cut spending on food and medical care for migrants and played a role in increasing sales of prescription opioids, which have been linked to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Vox also documented how BCG helped boost sales of sugary drinks in India, although the WHO has called for reducing sugary drinks consumption and supports taxing the products.<\/p>\n
The findings in the audit were recently accepted by the WHO\u2019s member states at the annual World Health Assembly. In a statement, the WHO said it \u201ctakes seriously the recommendations of our oversight bodies and uses the constructive comments to address any identified weaknesses in our control environment \u2014 we are a learning organization, and these reports help us to continuously improve in all identified areas.\u201d <\/p>\n
The international agency said the contracts were awarded in the context of an unprecedented health emergency, but added that the agency is taking the recommendations in the report seriously, and has \u201calready begun implementing many of those related to procurement.\u201d <\/p>\n