TEHRAN (FNA)- US President Donald Trump didn’t stun world leaders and health experts when he halted funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), in the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic. He has been at it for a long time, walking out of many international treaties in the past.
He first accused the WHO of mismanaging the spread of the novel coronavirus, and of not acting quickly enough to investigate the virus when it first emerged in China in December 2019. Trump then halted World Health Organization funding over handling of coronavirus outbreak.
This is while Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, which is the WHO's parent organization, has described the pandemic as unprecedented and acknowledged that there would be lessons learned for future outbreaks.
"But now is not that time ... it is also not the time to reduce the resources for the operations of the World Health Organization or any other humanitarian organization in the fight against the virus," he said, urging unity in the face of a pandemic that has killed more than many people globally.
No doubt Trump’s abrupt decision to cut all US funding to the WHO is reckless and deadly - particularly at a time when the Geneva-based UN agency is engaged in an uphill battle against the spreading coronavirus.
He has dismissed the WHO as “China-centric”. However, he is playing politics with human lives - while blaming the agency for mishandling the coronavirus outbreak and not supporting his earlier decision to bar Chinese from entering the US. And who said this has anything to do with his popularity poll numbers dropping.
Recent polls show that more Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the virus, than approve. He wants a scapegoat and he’s got one. Now more than ever, the US administration should prioritize the health and well-being of the American people, and the most vulnerable people around the globe, over politics. This is a time when the US should put politics and blame aside and work with WHO to save lives and recover from this global pandemic. If only.
By halting funding to the WHO, Trump is deliberately endangering the lives of millions of people around the world, particularly those most at risk during this historic pandemic in war-torn regions. A global health emergency demands a global response, not politics.
The World Health Organization provides vital international assistance and coordination. That Trump halts funding to the WHO in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic is reckless and criminal, and risks contributing to widespread death and suffering.
His move comes at precisely the wrong time. The pandemic is beginning to spread from high-income countries to countries with weak health systems and those in the middle of conflicts. There is a need for more concerted, coordinated, and effective action from the global community, not less – a global community that understands and embraces coordination and collaboration – not politics.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the WHO, with thousands of its staff, on the front lines, is supporting member states and their societies, especially the most vulnerable among them, with guidance, training, equipment and concrete life-saving services as they fight the virus: “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.”
At any rate, instead of bringing the world community together through this global crisis, Trump continues to attack countries, leaders and agencies around the world, seeking to deflect blame for his own administration’s failings and foreign policy blunders – especially in the Middle East refugee camps. With this latest move to hold back funding from the WHO, he is crippling any hopes for the responsible international cooperation and solidarity that is critical to save lives and restore the global economy.
Trump’s illegal sanctions against many nations and now withholding funding to the WHO and blame-shifting means wasted time and needless death, misery, and poverty, especially in war-torn countries and refugee camps the world over. It will get his country and the world no closer to an end to this global health crisis.
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