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President Donald Trump’s decision to halt U.S. funding for the World Health Organization has drawn strong criticism at home and abroad for depriving the world body of its largest donor while fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s head of foreign policy, caught a chorus of international concern when he warned that all countries must work together to stop the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I deeply regret the decision of the United States to suspend funding to the WHO,” he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “There is no reason to justify this move at a time when your efforts are needed more than ever to help contain and mitigate the coronavirus pandemic.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, expressed his regret over Trump’s decision and said his organization was evaluating the impact and how to fill the funding gaps.
“This is a time for all of us to be united in our common fight against a common threat, a dangerous enemy,” he told reporters. “When we are divided, the virus exploits the cracks between us.”
Trump shocked European allies on Tuesday when he announced that hundreds of millions of dollars in US funds would be suspended. USA While a review was being conducted to assess the “role of WHO in mismanagement and to cover up the spread of the coronavirus.”
He also criticized the organization’s relationship with China. “American taxpayers contribute between $ 400 and $ 500 million a year to the WHO, in contrast China contributes approximately $ 40 million a year, even less,” Trump said. “As the organization’s main sponsor, the United States has a duty to insist on full responsibility.”
Critics responded that the White House was undermining the international response to the Covid-19 pandemic and other serious illnesses in an effort to distract attention from questions about its own handling of the health emergency.
The European Commission said the EU supported WHO in its efforts to contain the pandemic, had already provided additional funding and was investigating what they and their member states could do in response to the United States’ move.
“This is the time for solidarity, not to point the finger or undermine multilateral cooperation,” said the Commission.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will host an online pledging conference on May 4 that will analyze immediate funding gaps to combat the pandemic.
In Germany, Heiko Maas, chancellor, said she did not help “spread blame” for the pandemic. Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, criticized Trump’s decision as “indefensible” amid a “global pandemic”.
Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, called the US move “very alarming.” “This is an example of a very selfish approach by the US authorities,” he said, according to the Tass news agency.
The Trump movement was also condemned by Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and billionaire chief of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “Stopping funding for the World Health Organization during a global health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,” he wrote on Twitter.
I know. The US, where more than 26,000 people died from Covid-19, the largest official national number of deaths, is the largest single contributor to WHO. Of the approximately $ 500 million it provides annually, the UN requires $ 116 million and another $ 400 million are voluntary payments.
In Washington, the president’s move was criticized by Democrats, while Republicans strongly supported it. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, described it as an “illegal” measure that would be “quickly challenged.”
“Interrupting the president’s funding to the WHO while leading the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic makes no sense,” he added.
Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, said it was a “dangerous and reckless” move at a time when people in the United States and around the world were dying from the virus.
But Republicans backed either out of concern that the organization was overly focused on China, echoing Trump’s claims, or concern over international institutions.
“This is a critical time for global public health and we cannot afford China’s apologists to run the WHO,” said Lindsey Graham, a senator who generally supports the international commitment of the United States. “I support a suspension of funds. . . until there is new leadership at WHO. “
Stephen Griffin, an associate professor at the University of Leeds School of Medicine in the UK, said Trump’s decision was perhaps “one of the least productive, most shortsighted, motivated and hypocritical acts I have ever witnessed.”
China’s foreign ministry said Washington’s decision “would weaken WHO’s capabilities, harm international cooperation against the epidemic and affect several countries, including the United States itself.”
But Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also expressed concern about the WHO’s handling of the pandemic and called for more transparency from the health agency on the causes of the outbreak.
