Trump threatens permanent freeze of WHO funding, review of U.S. membership

WASHINGTON, May 19: U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to completely halt funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) if it didn’t decide to enhancements inside 30 days, to rethink the membership of the United States within the physique.

Trump suspended U.S. contributions to the WHO final month, accusing it of selling China’s “disinformation” in regards to the coronavirus outbreak, though WHO officers denied the accusation China stated it was clear open.

“If the WHO doesn’t decide to main substantive enhancements inside the subsequent 30 days, I’ll make my non permanent freeze of United States funding to the WHO everlasting rethink our membership,” Trump advised its chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a letter posted on .

Earlier, Trump stated the WHO had “executed a really unhappy job” in its hling of the virus he would decide quickly on U.S. funding.

In his letter, Trump stated the one approach ahead for the physique was if it may exhibit independence from China, including that his administration had already began reform discussions with Tedros.

On Monday, the WHO stated an unbiased evaluation of the worldwide virus response would start as quickly as potential it had acquired backing a hefty pledge of funds from China, within the highlight because the origin of the pemic.

Geneva-based WHO, a U.N. specialised company, is main a world initiative to develop protected efficient vaccines, checks medication to stop, diagnose deal with COVID-19.

More than 4.75 million individuals have been reported to have been contaminated globally 314,414 have died, in response to a Reuters tally.

The United States contributed greater than $400 million to the WHO in 2019, or roughly 15% of the group’s finances.

this yr, Washington has already paid the WHO about $58 million, senior Trump administration officers stated final month, half of what it’s required to pay for 2020 – often known as an assessed contribution.

The United States historically offers a number of hundred million {dollars} yearly in voluntary funding tied to particular WHO applications like polio eradication, vaccine-preventable illness, HIV hepatitis, tuberculosis, maternal, new child, youngster adolescent well being.

It was not clear how a lot voluntary funding the United States had already offered for WHO applications in 2020.

Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernez