Daily Source Bias Check: World Health Organization (WHO)

These sources consist of legitimate science or are evidence based through the use of credible scientific sourcing.  Legitimate science follows the scientific method, is unbiased and does not use emotional words.  These sources also respect the consensus of experts in the given scientific field and strive to publish peer reviewed science. Some sources in this category may have a slight political bias, but adhere to scientific principles. See all Pro-Science sources.

• Overall, we rate the World Health Organization a Pro-Science source of information and High for factual reporting due to a long record of factual reporting. 

Detailed Report

Factual Reporting: HIGH
Country: Switzerland
World Press Freedom Rank: Switzerland 8/180

History

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.  The World Health Organization has position papers on virtually every health issue and its opinion is the consensus of the medical experts around the world.

WHO is currently helping coordinate a worldwide response to COVID-19, which it declared to be public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on January 30, and a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Funded by / Ownership

The WHO relies on contributions from member states (both assessed and voluntary) and private donors for funding. As of 2018, it has a budget of over $4.2 billion, most of which comes from voluntary contributions from member states. 

Analysis / Bias

In review, the WHO “act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work”. The website publishes health resources, news about the agency, and research. They also collect health data located on their Data page. Further, they provide fact sheets on a wide range of medical conditions that are searchable. The WHO does not use emotional language such as this: New Ebola outbreak detected in northwest Democratic Republic of the Congo; WHO surge team supporting the response. Although, WHO is a pro-science source they have also made some mistakes and published studies that were questionable. See our failed fact checks below.

Failed Fact Checks

• WHO stated that asymptomatic spread of Covid-19 is “very rare” – Low Scientific Credibility (Misleading)

Overall, we rate the World Health Organization a Pro-Science source of information and High for factual reporting due to a long record of factual reporting. (D. Van Zandt 8/20/2016) Updated (6/10/2020)

Source: http://www.who.int/en/