Correspondence: Muller’s ratchet hypothesis

The situation in WHO’s Regional Office in Africa (WHO/AFRO), which you describe in your Aug 7 Editorial (p 475)1 is not unique. As a former staff member of WHO/Europe I would say that almost all the weaknesses you identify for WHO/AFRO in your fourth paragraph now apply to the European office, most notably that the agency acts as a political rather than a technical one.

For several years, I have been concerned about financial maladministration that has affected my programmes. I have pursued this issue through all available channels, including the United Nation’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) (which after nearly a year of consideration claimed to have no mandate to oversee WHO). I can, hence, confirm there is no effective financial oversight for WHO as a whole or for its regional offices.