The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently promoted two new online games that aim to educate players about how to deal with skeptics of the current public health policy. The Cranky Uncle game and The Good Talk game offer a multiplayer experience that allows players to engage with Uncle “Antivax” and Auntie “Conspiracy” during holiday dinners.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been criticized for promoting a vaccine that has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through the use of these “educational” games. This has led some to question the neutrality of the organization, as it is supposed to be a public health body rather than a political entity. Additionally, the WHO has been accused of labeling anyone who disagrees with its decisions or statements as a spreader of disinformation, further raising concerns about the organization’s impartiality.
Over the past decade, the U.S. has been one of the largest financial contributors to the WHO, providing between $200 million and $600 million per year in funding. However, some have argued that the U.S. should not continue to support an organization that violates political neutrality. According to the U.S. Constitution, it is not permissible for a governmental body to promote a specific political point of view. Therefore, it is important that the WHO, as an international agency that is funded by the U.S. government, remains unbiased and neutral in order to fulfill its duties effectively.
There are countless individuals around the world who could greatly benefit from the WHO’s medical assistance and support. However, the organization has come under criticism for allocating resources toward advertising games and pushing information campaigns rather than expanding its medical outreach efforts and directly helping those in need. This has led some to question the priorities of the WHO and whether the organization is truly fulfilling its mandate to promote and protect the health of people globally.
Hi, this is John Cook, creator of the Cranky Uncle game. Just wanted to clarify that my game was not created with the World Health Organization – rather, the Cranky Uncle Vaccine game (not yet publicly available) is a collaboration with UNICEF and the Sabin Vaccine Institute, while the original Cranky Uncle game (focused on general misinformation and released in December 2020) was created independently while I was based at George Mason University. More details about the game are available at https://crankyuncle.com/game/
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