The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday he is “reviewing the impact on our work of any withdrawal of U.S. funding” and is working with partners to fill financial gaps.
“The United States has been a long-standing and generous friend to WHO, and we hope it will continue to be so,” WHO’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing.
Tedros said the Organsiation regrets the U.S. cutting.
“With support from the people and government of the United States, WHO works to improve the health of many of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.” he added.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the suspension of payments over his disagreements with the Organisation’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. This drew swift condemnation from health experts and international allies.
The American Medical Association described the move as “a dangerous step in the wrong direction,” while the director of the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) praised the Organisation as “a great partner.”
Former president Jimmy Carter said he was “distressed” by Trump’s decision to withhold funding — especially in the midst of a pandemic crisis.
“WHO is the only international organisation capable of leading the effort to control this virus,” Carter stated.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump’s decision “illegal” and vowed that it would be “swiftly challenged.”
“The President’s halting of funding to the WHO as it leads the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic is senseless,” Pelosi said in a statement.
“This is another case, as I have said, of the President’s ineffective response, that ‘a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility. A weak person blames others.’ This decision is dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged.”
U.S. is the WHO’s largest donor and had pledged to commit $893 million during its current two-year funding period.
When asked about the exact amount of U.S. funding cut and its impact, Tedros said that information would be released after the review.
The Organisation has already faced criticism for its carrot-over-stick approach to China during the virus outbreak. Tedros has sought to not politically antagonise Chinese officials, unwilling to chastise the Asian nation for its mistakes and lack of transparency.
On the other hand, some of Trump’s frustrations with the WHO have been echoed by other world leaders with similar misgivings about the Organisation and China’s handling of the coronavirus at the onset.
However, Trump’s critics referred that the U.S. president is attacking the Organisation to detract from domestic concerns about his handling of the health crisis, which he initially downplayed as being just like the flu.
To date, the United States leads the world in confirmed deaths from the coronavirus, having total fatalities of 28,399 and 641,919 reported cases.
