The US President Donald Trump’s move to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic prompted condemnation recently from world leaders who appealed for cooperation and unity.
Trump, who has reacted angrily to accusations his administration’s response to the worst epidemic in a century was haphazard and too slow, had become increasingly hostile towards the United Nations (UN) agency before announcing the halt.
The WHO, which is based in Geneva, had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak than otherwise would have occurred, Trump said.
WHO had failed to investigate credible reports from sources in China’s Wuhan province, where the virus was first identified in December, that conflicted with Beijing’s accounts about the spread and “parroted and publicly endorsed” the idea that human to human transmission was not happening, Trump said.
“The WHO failed in this basic duty and must be held accountable,” Trump told a White House news conference.
A US official told Reuters that Trump made the move despite pushback within his administration, especially from top health advisers. There was no immediate reaction from the WHO, which has been appealing for more than $1 billion to fund operations against the pandemic.
The US is the biggest overall donor to the WHO, contributing more than $400 million in 2019, roughly 15 per cent of its budget.
Nearly two million people globally have been infected and more than 127,000 have died since the disease emerged in China late last year, according to a Reuters tally.
Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, the UN said it was 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.
China, which has won WHO praise for its actions to curb the virus’s spread, urged the US to fulfil its obligations to the WHO.
“This decision weakens the WHO’s capability and harms international cooperation,” Zhao Lijian, Spokesman, Foreign Ministry, said.
Josep Borrell, Chief – Foreign Policy, European Union (EU) said on Twitter, “Deeply regret the US decision to suspend funding to WHO. There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever.”
Heiko Maas, Foreign Minister, Germany said apportioning blame did not help. “The virus knows no borders,” Maas said on Twitter.
Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister, New Zealand said the WHO was essential to tackle the pandemic.
“At a time like this, when we need to be sharing information and we need to have advice we can rely on, the WHO has provided that,” she said. “We will continue to support it and continue to make our contributions.”
Blame China, not WHO
Scott Morrison, Prime Minister, Australia, said he sympathised with Trump’s criticisms of the WHO, especially its “unfathomable” support of re-opening China’s “wet markets,” where freshly slaughtered and live animals are sold.
“But that said, the WHO, also as an organisation, 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 of with the bathwater here, but they are also not immune from criticism.”
John Sawers, Former Head – MI6 Foreign Intelligence Service, Britain, said China concealed crucial information about the outbreak from the rest of the world and that it would be better to hold China responsible rather than the WHO.
In its latest strategy update, the WHO said countries that ease restrictions should wait at least two weeks to evaluate the impact before easing again.
It said that the world stands at a “pivotal juncture.”
More than 2,200 people died in the US on 14th April, 2020, a record toll according to a Reuters tally, even as it debated how to reopen its economy.
New York City, hardest hit by the outbreak, revised its death toll sharply up to more than 10,000, to include victims presumed to have died of the lung disease but never tested.
The US health advocacy group Protect Our Care said Trump’s WHO funding withdrawal 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 WHO is not without fault but it is beyond irresponsible to cut its funding at the height of a global pandemic,” said Leslie Dach, who chairs the group.
The world economy is expected to shrink by three per cent this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said, marking the steepest downturn since the Great Depression.
Trump, who has declared he will decide when to lift the US lockdowns, suggested some Democratic state governors were “mutineers” after Andrew Cuomo, Governor, New York, said he would refuse any order that risked reigniting the outbreak.
Reporting from Reuters bureau across the world; Writing by Lincoln Feast and Nick Macfie; Editing by Robert Birsel and Philippa Fletcher