[World Health Organization\COVID-19]
Trump’s decision on Tuesday, several WHO programmes, including emergency mitigation of the coronavirus, are now in danger of being set aside, as hundreds of millions of dollars in funding dry up.
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Concerns have been raised over the World Health Organization’s (WHO) future after US President Donald Trump announced a funding cut for the body amid the coronavirus pandemic.
WHO is the leading United Nations body dealing with health issues, including the fight against the deadly coronavirus which has now infected more than two million people and killed more than 128,000 people worldwide.
With Trump’s decision on Tuesday, several WHO programmes, including emergency mitigation of the coronavirus, are now in danger of being set aside, as hundreds of millions of dollars in funding dry up.
While international organizations and the private sector contribute to its budget, WHO relies mostly on donor countries to function.
In the 2018-19 WHO budget, the US contributed 15 percent of the international body’s $4.4bn budget – the most from a single donor country.
While announcing his decision, Trump accused the WHO of promoting China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak, including in the US.
In response, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference on Wednesday that he regretted the decision but called on world unity to fight the new coronavirus pandemic.
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