The U.S. is suspending its funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) until it has reviewed the agency’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. This move has been widely criticised both in the U.S. and globally.
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During a White House press conference on 14 April President Donald Trump accused WHO of making deadly mistakes and having "failed in its basic duty" in its response to the pandemic. “Today I’m instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” Trump said. When asked about the causes to make such move now, Trump said the U.S. has had problems with WHO “for years” and the nation should have done this “a long time ago.”
A senior administration official said
to Reuters that Washington would stop a $58 million “assessed contribution” that
it was due to pay for 2020. The country also traditionally provides several
hundred million dollars a year in voluntary funding. “That money will be spent
with other partners,” said a second senior Trump administration official.
So far it is unclear what mechanism will be used by the U.S.,
as the president usually does not have the authority to unilaterally redirect
congressional funding.
The US is WHO’s largest single funder. It provided
more than $400 million, or 15% of the organisation’s 2018-2019
budget.
Source: WHO Results Report. Programme Budget 2018-2019. Mid-Term Review
In February, WHO launched an appeal
for $675 million to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, of which $61.5 million
were for WHO’s urgent preparedness and response activities for the period of
February to April 2020. The agency is planning to launch an updated plan in
April and will identify significantly larger resource needs for country
response, research and development and WHO itself.
Criticism
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference that he regretted US President Donald Trump's decision. "The United States of America has been a long-standing and generous friend of the WHO and we hope it will continue to be so," he said adding that the agency is reviewing the effect of any withdrawal of US funding on its work. “We will work with partners to fill any gaps and ensure our work continues uninterrupted," Dr Tedros commented.
According
to Dr Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergencies expert, there would be opportunities in
coming weeks and months to discuss WHO's budget with its other 193 states.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said the international community should be uniting "in solidarity to stop this virus" and it was "not the time" to cut funds to the WHO. "It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against Covid-19," he underlined.
The European Union called
Trump’s decision unjustified during the coronavirus pandemic. “Deeply regret
U.S. decision to suspend funding to WHO. There is no reason justifying this
move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever,” Josep Borrell
Fontelles, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy, said on
Twitter.
Bill Gates, whose Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was the
second-largest donor to WHO for 2018-2019 budget, contributing over $530
million, wrote
that stopping funding for WHO during a world health crisis "is as
dangerous as it sounds".
Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for
Disease Control and Prevention, believes that by withdrawing WHO funding the U.S.
is only trying to divert attention from its domestic epidemic. "The US has
not responded to the epidemic properly and its accusations against the WHO go
against the facts. This is unethical and will only make it more isolated in the
world," he said in an interview to Global
Times.
The current move is the latest in a series of Trump administration
actions against international multilateral organisations. In February, the
administration's proposal for 2021 laid
out a $65 million cut to WHO.
Image credit: WHO
