The director general of the World Health Organization has said that the agency “is getting on with the job” despite the US halting funding to the body.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who has been under pressure from US politicians over his leadership and handling of the coronavirus pandemic said “We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organization.”
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered his administration to cut funding to the World Health Organization accusing it of promoting what he calls China’s “disinformation” about the coronavirus.
President Trump said the WHO failed in its duties and its cover up for China was likely to led to a wider outbreak.
Trump told reporters at the White House that “I am directing my administration to halt funding while a review is conducted to access the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”
“The WHO failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable,” Trump added
The United States is WHO’s largest single donor, contributing between $400 million and $500 million annually to WHO in recent years.
“WHO is getting on with the job.
We are continuing to study this #coronavirus every moment of every day, we are learning from many countries about what works, and we are sharing that information with the world”-@DrTedros #COVID19
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) April 15, 2020
Review of funding
Tedros said “WHO is reviewing the impact on our work of any withdrawal of U.S. funding and will work with our partners to fill any financial gaps we face and to ensure our work continues uninterrupted.
Our commitment to public health, science and to serving all the people of the world without fear or favour remains absolute.”
The WHO chief told reporters that “Our mission and mandate are to work with all nations equally, without regard to the size of their populations or economies.
COVID-19 does not discriminate between rich nations and poor, large nations and small. It does not discriminate between nationalities, ethnicities or ideologies.”
U.S politicians have been leading a campaign already to have the boss of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus removed from office.
They accused him of allowing China to under-report the impact of the virus in Wuhan, where the outbreak started.
China has been accused of significantly downplaying its official virus cases, with some estimates suggesting their death toll could be as high as 40,000.
Source: Africafeeds.com
