Donald Trump has threatened to cut off the United States funding to the World Health Organisation-accusing them of “missing the call” on the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump claimed that in handling COVID-19, the United Nations health agency made errors of judgment.
President Trump then proceeded to described the WHO as “very China-centric,” suggesting that the organization went along with Beijing’s efforts to minimize the severity of the crisis.
Despite the fact there is reason to believe that the officially published Chinese coronavirus death toll may not reflect the true number of fatalities, the World Health Organization has praised China for its transparency on the coronavirus.
Beijing is another significant financial donor to the World Health organization, leading opponents to argue that the WHO lacks the independence it needs to perform its role properly.
Trump originally vowed, at his regular White House press conference, that he would place a stop on US funding to the World Health Organization. He later backtracked and said that such a move would be “strongly considered.”
The United States is one of the largest financial contributors of the World Health Organisation, with Trump’s administration in February asking for a cut of America’s funding from $122.6 m to $57.9 m.
Earlier on Tuesday, the president tweeted:
The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China-centric. We will be giving that a good look.
Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?
Trump’s arguments were strongly dismissed by the WHO, with United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric saying:
It is clear that the WHO has done tremendous work on COVID-19.
In supporting countries with millions of pieces of equipment being shipped out, on helping countries with training, on providing global guidelines – WHO is showing the strength of the international health system.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization said that the pandemic’s acute period “is not the time to cut funding.”
The WHO also answered the President’s comments that the virus was “China-centric” and said that although learning from the Chinese about the early stages of the epidemic was significant, “it had nothing specifically to do with China.”
The president’s assault on the World Health Organization may be an attempt to divert criticism of his treatment of the pandemic, with the United States currently reporting the largest number of reported COVID-19 cases worldwide.
The Panthera Post 