US President Donald Trump has suspended American funding to World Health Organization (WHO), alleging the organization of siding with China and mishandling the COVID-19 outbreak.
Speaking at a White House press conference, Mr Trump accused WHO of its failure to accurately predict the virus threat in the early months of the outbreak and that it has sided with China on covering up the true extent of virus spread.
“I am directing my administration to halt funding while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” he stated.
United States is the single largest contributor to WHO, and contributed $400 million in the year 2019, which amounts to almost 15 percent of the organization’s total budget.
President Trump stated that the World Health Organization has failed in its basic duty, for which it must be held accountable.
Patrice Harris – president of the American Medical Association, has urged Trump administration to reconsider and review its decision to cut WHO funding and stated, “Fighting a global pandemic requires international cooperation and reliance on science and data.”
According to John Hopkins University, around 1.98 million confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported around the globe with 126,500 deaths. The United States has been the worst-affected country with 608,377 confirmed cases and the death toll exceeding 25,981.
