The United States (US) President, Donald Trump, has announced the temporary suspension of funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) over the alleged cover-up and mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak in China before spreading around the globe.
This was announced by the US President, during a press briefing at the White House, on Tuesday. April 14, 2020.
Donald Trump, while making the announcement said that the United States is halting funding of the WHO while a review is conducted to assess the health organization’s role in mismanaging the coronavirus outbreak.
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In his statement, the US President said, ”Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess WHO’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus’.
”As the organization’s leading sponsor, the United States has a duty to insist on full accountability. One of the most dangerous and costly decisions from the WHO was the desire to oppose travel restrictions from China and other nations.
“With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have deep concerns whether America’s generosity has been put to the best use possible.”
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According to Trump, the United States, being the single largest donor, contributes between $400 million and $500 million annually to the WHO as against the $50 million or less being contributed by China.
He believes the UN health body, failed in its basic duty by taking China’s claim about the coronavirus at face value and failing to share information about the pandemic as it spreads.
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I think Trump is right. I think WHO should be held accountable for casual handling of the situation at the earlier stages. They kept discouraging countries time and time again from placing travel restrictions on China, when it would have been advisable to err on the side of caution to limit the spread to just within China. I believe it is the duty of WHO to ensure that catastrophic situations like these don’t happen. Tens of thousands of lives might have been saved if they had acted more urgently and decisively.