UNITED NATIONS, April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — It is “not the time to reduce the resources for the operations of the World Health Organization or any other humanitarian organization in the fight against the virus,” United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
“It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against COVID-19,” he said, after US President Donald Trump announced that his country would cut off funding to the UN health body for mishandling the coronavirus pandemic.
“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.
On the same day, the WHO warned that the world has not reached its peak yet.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said, “The overall world outbreak – 90 percent of cases are coming from Europe and the United States of America. So we are certainly not seeing the peak yet.”
At the White House briefing, Trump told reporters that he had ordered a review of the handling of the virus by the WHO and instructed a temporarily halt to WHO funding.
By calling it “China-centric,” Trump said the WHO promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak. He said the UN body “failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable.”
U.S. contributions to WHO in 2019 exceeded 400 million U.S. dollars, according to figures from the U.S. State Department.
The WHO has rejected the “China-centric” charge, saying it worked with China like it worked with every other nations in dealing with a virus outbreak.
Last week, Dr Bruce Aylward, who led a WHO expert mission to China in February, defended the organization’s relationship with China, saying its work with Beijing authorities was important to understand the outbreak which began in Wuhan in December.
“It was absolutely critical in the early part of this outbreak to have full access to everything possible, to get on the ground and work with the Chinese to understand this,” he told reporters.
“This is what we did with every other hard-hit country like Spain and had nothing to do with China specifically.”
Trump’s announcement drew immediate criticism in the United States, as doctors and scientists warned of a wrong move in curbing the pandemic.
American Medical Association President, Dr Patrice Harris called it “a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating COVID-19 easier” and urged Trump to reconsider.
Dr Amesh Adalja from John Hopkins University Center for Health Security said, “The move sends the wrong message” during the middle of a pandemic.
The WHO collects information about where the virus is active in every county in the world, which the United States needs to help guide decisions about when to open borders, he said.
U.S. health care advocacy group Protect Our Care said the withdrawal was “nothing more than 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 Organization is not without fault but it is beyond irresponsible to cut its funding at the height of a global pandemic,” said Leslie Dach, chair of Protect Our Care. — NNN-AGENCIES
