He said the U.S. contributes up to $400 million while superpowers like China, where the outbreak began, contribute closer to $40 million. “The United States has a duty to insist on full accountability,” Mr. Trump said.
He cited the WHO’s lack of pushback to Beijing’s foggy reporting on the virus in the early going, saying it cost the rest of the world valuable time. He also blasted the WHO’s opposition to bans on travel from China, accusing it of putting “political correctness above life-saving measures.”
“Countless more lives would have been saved. Instead, look at the rest of the world,” he said, citing the rampant spread of the virus in Europe. He said U.S. funding wasn’t put to good use and the WHO failed to vet and share information in a timely fashion.
Mr. Trump said the freeze will last 60 to 90 days and should have been done by previous administrations. “This is an evaluation period,” Mr. Trump said. He said he will channel the money to the areas that most need it.
The president also accused the WHO of failing to contain samples of the virus from China and getting a team into the source country, though WHO ultimately did get a team in with cooperation from Beijing.
Mr. Trump’s decision to cut off funding to the public health arm of the U.N. in the middle of a pandemic is sure to raise eyebrows, though the president may resume funding after sending “powerful letters” to the organization and discussing it with other nations.
The WHO, based in Switzerland, is considered the world leader in public health emergencies, such as the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has been nearly stamped out amid violent conditions.
“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!” Mr. Trump tweeted Jan. 24, as the virus swamped the city of Wuhan.
Mr. Trump responded to a question about his praise indirectly, pointing to his trade deal and the need for Mr. Xi to live up to it. One week later, Mr. Trump decided to ban foreign nationals who’d been in China over the past 14 days from entering the U.S. The president said his move prevented a far worse outbreak, though critics say he squandered that time by failing to set up a robust diagnostics program and supply chain during February.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, Oregon Democrat, said “multiple failures” at the national and international level led to the problems the U.S. is facing now. But he said America needs to keep its seat at the table in global talks.
“It’s crucial that the United States is at the center of the discussion, not on the sidelines, as the international community determines what path the World Health Organization (WHO) takes moving forward. Cutting back on America’s support and involvement will mean that the United States does not have a full seat at the table during these discussions, and will only magnify the already troubling influence of China at the WHO,” he said.
“Additionally, the activities that are most needed right now to reopen society — global disease surveillance, information sharing, and technical assistance for testing and contact tracing — are exactly the activities that the WHO exists to help coordinate,” he added. “Backing away from the WHO at this moment will inflict great damage on the United States, as well as the international community.”
US President Donald Trump has pulled funding from the World Health Organisation amid the coronavirus pandemic. “So much death has been caused by their mistakes,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday (local time).
Mr Trump has ordered a review after accusing WHO of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the spread of COVID-19. The amount being withheld from WHO sits at more than US$400 million ($621 million) annually, NBC reported. Earlier on Tuesday, WHO spokeswoman Dr Margaret Harris tried to ease the tension between the US and WHO, noting the country was the largest donor and had been a “fantastic partner”.
“There will always be criticisms of organisations, it’s important to listen criticism especially constructive criticism,” she said. She did however stress WHO’s work “will go on regardless of any kind of issues.”
Hours later, Mr Trump withdrew the US’s funding, stating: “Those tasked with protecting us by being truthful and transparent failed to do so.” Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked WHO in recent weeks, suggesting it is too “China-centric” amid the outbreak.
"Had the WHO done its job to get medical experts into china to objectively assess the situation on the ground and to call out China's lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source with very little death," he said.
Mr Trump said WHO had ignored "credible information" as early as December 2019 that the virus could be transmitted from human to human and contributed to China’s push to suppress news on the virus’s outbreak. On January 14, WHO said in a statement China had “no clear evidence” of human-to-human transmission.
Mr Trump suggested China’s contribution to WHO was roughly 10 per cent of what the US gives annually. "We have deep concerns over whether America's generosity has been put to the best use possible," he said. Mr Trump also questioned WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s insistence in early February that countries should not “unnecessarily” close their borders to China – a move Australia made at the start of February.
In response to Mr Trump’s announcement, the Democratic National Committee’s Deputy War Room Director Daniel Wessel said the president is “willing to put global health further at risk to try to deflect blame from his own failures”.
(Blogger's Notes: Why is a allegedly-disgraced politician from Ethiopia, especially a communist one like Tedros Adhanom, running a specialist global pubic-health organization like WHO? He is not even a medical doctor. Mind blowing stuff, most UN organizations are.)
Related posts at following links:
The crimes of Ethiopian Communist Tedros Adhanom