Amidst the coronavirus pandemic wrecking havoc in hundreds of countries around the world , including the United States, funding to the World Health Organization has been halted by the US President Donald Trump over his allegations that the UN agency had not handled the coronavirus pandemic in a proper manner.
Trump’s decision was criticized by experts in the infectious disease area as the coronavirus pandemic infections continue to rise in the world.
While becoming increasingly critical of the WHO, Trump himself has been criticized of his and his administration’s response to the pandemic in the country that id the worst in more than a century.
Trump had alleged that the China’s “disinformation” about the virus China’s “disinformation” about the coronavirus epidemic was promoted by the Geneva-based organisation which had probably led to the virus spreading throughout the world than would have happened otherwise.
“The WHO failed in this basic duty and must be held accountable,” Trump told a White House news conference.
According to the latest figures, since the coronavirus pandemic first emerged in China in December last year, it has spread to more than 200 countries and infected over two million people globally while more than 124,000 people have died so far from the virus.
The time for reducing the resources for the WHO was not apt, said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reacting to the halting of funding by the US.
“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.
With an average annual contribution of more than $400 million in 2019, roughly 15 per cent of the total budget of the WHO, the United States is the biggest overall donor to the UN organization.
While sympathizing with the criticisms of the WHO by Trump, particularly in the “unfathomable” support of the WHO for the re-opening China’s “wet markets” – with one such wet market that sells freshly slaughtered animals in Wuhan reportedly causing the start of the coronavirus pandemic to jump from animals to humans, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also brought out some of the other good work that is done by the WHO.
“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 and immune from doing things better.”
Protect Our Care, a US health care advocacy group described Trump’s WHO funding withdrawal as “a transparent attempt by President Trump 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 Organizstion is not without fault but it is beyond irresponsible to cut its funding at the height of a global pandemic,” said Leslie Dach, the chair of Protect Our Care.
(Source:www.thewire.in)
Trump’s decision was criticized by experts in the infectious disease area as the coronavirus pandemic infections continue to rise in the world.
While becoming increasingly critical of the WHO, Trump himself has been criticized of his and his administration’s response to the pandemic in the country that id the worst in more than a century.
Trump had alleged that the China’s “disinformation” about the virus China’s “disinformation” about the coronavirus epidemic was promoted by the Geneva-based organisation which had probably led to the virus spreading throughout the world than would have happened otherwise.
“The WHO failed in this basic duty and must be held accountable,” Trump told a White House news conference.
According to the latest figures, since the coronavirus pandemic first emerged in China in December last year, it has spread to more than 200 countries and infected over two million people globally while more than 124,000 people have died so far from the virus.
The time for reducing the resources for the WHO was not apt, said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reacting to the halting of funding by the US.
“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.
With an average annual contribution of more than $400 million in 2019, roughly 15 per cent of the total budget of the WHO, the United States is the biggest overall donor to the UN organization.
While sympathizing with the criticisms of the WHO by Trump, particularly in the “unfathomable” support of the WHO for the re-opening China’s “wet markets” – with one such wet market that sells freshly slaughtered animals in Wuhan reportedly causing the start of the coronavirus pandemic to jump from animals to humans, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also brought out some of the other good work that is done by the WHO.
“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 and immune from doing things better.”
Protect Our Care, a US health care advocacy group described Trump’s WHO funding withdrawal as “a transparent attempt by President Trump 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 Organizstion is not without fault but it is beyond irresponsible to cut its funding at the height of a global pandemic,” said Leslie Dach, the chair of Protect Our Care.
(Source:www.thewire.in)
