Trump Freezes U.S. Funding for WHO

The WHO’s unexplainable allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party has caused an international uproar. Because of this, the U.S. will no longer foot the bill for the organization’s impropriety.

President Trump announced that the U.S. will immediately halt all funding for the WHO at a White House press conference from the Rose Garden on Tuesday. Trump said he made the decision to cut off U.S. funds because the WHO put “political correctness over lifesaving measures.”

The president also announced that the U.S. would launch a 60-to-90 day investigation into the “China-centric” WHO’s coronavirus response. Trump accused the organization of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the outbreak, and he was particularly critical of the WHO’s ‘disastrous’ decisions to advise against travel restrictions from China. “So much death has been caused by their mistakes,” Trump said.

The U.S. fund freeze is a major blow to the WHO, as the U.S. is the group’s number-one funding patron. The organization was previously slotted to receive $893 million over the current two-year funding term. Trump pointed out that the U.S. contributes about $400 to $500 million per year in WHO funding, but China only pays $40 million. The president said that they will use the money the country saves in places that needs it most.

What Caused the US to Freeze Funding?

“It’s a disaster for public health and to do it at this time is simply unimaginable,” our own GHS CEO David Gold says of the US funding freeze to @WHO in this piece by @paimadhu for @Forbes.

"To stop its funding is insane and a threat to all Americans."https://t.co/l8ojEGhUpU

— Global Health Strategies (@GHS) June 3, 2020

Trump said the WHO’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak was the ultimate reason for the country’s funding freeze. “We have deep concerns over whether America’s generosity has been put to the best use possible,” Trump told reporters. He said the WHO failed to provide the international community with accurate information about the threat posed by the coronavirus outbreak. “The WHO failed in this duty and it must be held accountable,” the president said.

The United States isn’t the only country that has been critical of the WHO’s response. In fact, the organization’s handling of the outbreak has sparked international outrage. Several countries have also accused the organization of incompetence.

On Tuesday, Taiwan released a series of December emails to the WHO that inquired about the potential for person-to-person spread of COVID-19. Taiwan ignored the emails, officials say. They also said the organization failed to adequately provide the country with directions for preventing the virus’s spread. Taiwan accused the WHO of downplaying the severity of the outbreak in an attempt to pander to China. This happened despite the fact that Taiwan raised a red flag after it became aware of seven abnormal pneumonia cases in the Wuhan area.

Taiwanese health officials discovered the atypical pneumonia cases in late December. They then alerted the WHO to the potential for person-to-person spread as early as December 31st. However, the WHO ignored Taiwan’s concerns. Instead, they reiterated the Chinese narrative that no one found evidence of human transmission.

The World Reacts

Australia has also criticized the WHO for its stance on live wildlife markets. Prime Minister Scott Morrison criticized the WHO earlier this week after the organization resisted calls from a bipartisan group of lawmakers. This group urged the organization to shut down so-called ‘wet markets’ worldwide. Evidence indicates that the COVID-19 outbreak erupted from a wet market in Wuhan. In the said market, merchants sold live wildlife for human consumption. “I’m just puzzled by that decision,” Morrison said.

Last week, a bipartisan coalition of over 60 U.S. lawmakers also called on the WHO to ban and permanently close wet markets globally because of the coronavirus pandemic. The group sent a letter urging the organization to take “aggressive action”

However, the WHO said “wet markets and other food markets do not need to be closed down,” in a statement. Although, they admitted that officials need to prohibit markets from selling illegal wildlife for food.

Despite the worldwide condemnation, the WHO continues to standby its actions, and the lack of contrition is not doing the organization any favors. At this rate, it won’t be surprising to see the organization become largely irrelevant in the near future. The world’s leading nations are questioning whether they can trust the WHO to keep their best interests in mind, so it will come as no surprise if more countries reduce or eliminate funding for the organization in the near future.

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Featured Image by United States Mission Geneva/Flickr