Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


WHO Adviser Asks US to Rethink Funding Suspension

Salem Solomon

   WASHINGTON - A chief adviser to the World Health Organization's
   director-general said the recent decision by the United States to halt
   funding to the organization is "devastating" and that the U.S. should
   rethink the move.

   Dr. Senait Fisseha is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology
   at the University of Michigan's medical school and a lawyer. She said
   the suspension would have a significant impact on the U.N.
   organization's ability to fight for global public health.
   "Where we're going to feel the pinch the most is going to be around
   routine services like immunizations, lifesaving interventions that the
   WHO provides in collaboration with national governments," Senait told
   VOA via Skype. "So, this is not good news. Of course, the decision is
   not final."

   Last year, U.S. funding made up about $450 million of the WHO's $6
   billion budget. President Donald Trump has expressed frustration at
   statements by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus which
   appeared to excuse China from blame for the origination of the
   coronavirus and seemed to applaud their efforts to contain it.

   On April 14, [1]Trump ordered a 90-day halt to WHO funding for
   "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus."
   The acting administrator for the U.S. Agency for International
   Development, John Barsa, said that during the pause in funding, the
   U.S. will try to build relationships with other international health
   agencies.
   "We're going with existing programs outside of the World Health
   Organization, and we're looking for different partners," [2]he said
   during a press conference.

   But Senait said the timing for such a move is disastrous. The WHO is
   providing global surveillance of the spread of the disease,
   coordinating the international response and giving advice and training
   to health practitioners.

   "If anything, this is the time where U.S. leadership is enormously
   critical globally," Senait said. "And not only do we expect and we hope
   funding will be reinstated, but rather we want to see an increase in
   funding to fight this pandemic. We are all in this together."

   The WHO has received criticism for early missteps in response to the
   virus. On Jan. 14, the organization [3]tweeted that Chinese authorities
   had found no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. This
   proved to be false.

References

   1. https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/trump-cuts-us-funding-who
   2. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/04/22/who-chief-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus-pilloried-by-trump-and-gop-allies-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/5163962002/
   3. https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1217043229427761152?s=20

.