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The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for unity, as the agency is under continuous fire from the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
Speaking on Wednesday, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus defended the work of the WHO and called for an end to the politicization of Covid-19.
Trump said he would consider ending US funding for the UN agency.
The president accused the WHO of being “very focused on China” and said it “really blew” his pandemic response.
Dr. Tedros now rejected the comments and insisted: “We are close to all nations, we are colorblind.”
After first attacking the WHO on Tuesday, President Trump renewed his criticism at his press conference on Wednesday, saying the organization must “hit its priorities.” He said the United States would conduct a study to decide whether to continue paying contributions,
Also answering questions at the Wednesday night briefing, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration was “re-evaluating our funds against the World Health Organization.”
“Organizations have to work. They have to deliver the results for which they were intended,” said Pompeo.
Covid-19 first emerged last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has just ended an 11-week blockade.
An adviser to the WHO chief previously said that his close collaboration with China had been “absolutely essential” in understanding the disease in its early stages.
Trump’s attacks on WHO come in the context of criticism of his own administration’s handling of the pandemic.
What did the WHO chief say?
“Please drive nationally, without using Covid or political points,” Dr. Tedros said Wednesday. “Second, honest solidarity worldwide. And honest leadership from the United States and China.”
“The most powerful must lead the way and quarantine Covid’s policy,” he appealed, in comments seen as a response to Trump.
On Tuesday, President Trump had said the WHO appeared to be “very biased towards China.”
“They rated it poorly. They really missed the call,” he said. “And we are going to withhold the money spent for the WHO. We are going to put a very powerful withholding on that, and we will see it.”
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The United States is one of the agency’s largest voluntary donors, and WHO data suggests it contributes 15% to its overall budget.
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On Wednesday, Dr. Tedros played down that financial threat and said he believed the US funding would continue.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, had previously added his voice to the defense of the organization.
He described the coronavirus outbreak as “unprecedented” and said that any evaluation of how it was managed should be a problem for the future.
“Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work in solidarity to stop this virus and its devastating consequences,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron also offered his support to the World Health Organization in a call to Dr. Tedros on Wednesday.
“He reaffirmed his confidence, his support for the institution and refuses to see it locked in a war between China and the United States,” a French presidency official told Reuters news agency.
What else happened on Wednesday?
- The latest data, compiled by Johns Hopkins University, suggests that there are now almost 1.5 million coronavirus cases and 90,000 related deaths worldwide.
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in intensive care in London, but his condition is said to be improving.
- The total number of fatalities in the UK exceeded 7,000, after a record 938 new deaths were confirmed on Wednesday.
- Deaths in Spain have risen for the second day in a row, after hopes earlier in the week that the country’s daily figure was declining.
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