US President Donald Trump on Tuesday halted funding to the WHO over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing condemnation from infectious disease experts as the global death toll mounts.
Trump, who has reacted angrily to criticism of his administration’s response to the pandemic, has become increasingly hostile toward the WHO.
The Geneva, Switzerland-based organization promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak than otherwise would have occurred, Trump said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The WHO failed in this basic duty and must be held accountable,” Trump told a White House news conference on Tuesday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that it is not the time to reduce resources for the WHO.
“Now is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences,” he said in a statement.
The US is the biggest overall donor to the WHO, contributing more than US$400 million last year, about 15 percent of its budget.
Yesterday, China urged the US to fulfill its obligations to the WHO.
Asked at a regular daily briefing whether China would step in to fill the shortfall, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) was noncommittal.
“China will look into relevant issues according to the needs of the situation,” he said, adding that the pandemic is at a critical stage and Washington’s decision would affect all countries.
“This decision weakens the WHO’s capability and harms international cooperation in guarding against the epidemic. Every country in the world is affected, including the US and especially those with fragile capacities,” he said. “We urge the US to earnestly fulfill its duties and obligations.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that he sympathized with Trump’s criticisms of the WHO, especially its “unfathomable” support of reopening China’s “wet markets,” where freshly slaughtered and live animals are sold.
The coronavirus is believed to have emerged from such a market in Wuhan, China.
“But that said, the WHO also as an organization does a lot of important work, including here in our region in the Pacific, and we work closely with them,” Morrison told an Australian radio station. “We are not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater here, but they are also not immune from criticism.”
US health advocacy group Protect Our Care said that Trump’s suspension of WHO funding was “a transparent attempt ... to distract from his history downplaying the severity of the coronavirus crisis and his administration’s failure to prepare our nation.”
“To be sure, the World Health Organization is not without fault, but it is beyond irresponsible to cut its funding at the height of a global pandemic,” group chair Leslie Dach said.
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