President Trump’s decision to halt UN funding to the WHO has drawn fierce criticism from the medical elite & political world. The Jewish Voice has published several pieces the last several weeks highlighting the failures of the WHO, their close ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and the controversial Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
“Today I’m instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus”- Trump
Trump clearly states that this is not a permanent move. Other sources have reported it’s a 60-90 day halting until the review is completed.
Regadless of one’s views of Trump’s decison, millions of people around the globe agree that the Director General should resign, the online petition at change.org gathered nearly a million signatures. Trump specifically did not call for his ouster.
The WHO posted a now infamous Tweet stating the virus can’t be spread from human to human based on CCP information on January 14th.
This is especially a problem because as The Guardian reported: “In a briefing at WHO headquarters on 14 January, the same day as the tweet about the Chinese results, the organisation’s technical lead on Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, told reporters that while there had so far been only limited human transmission between family members in China, the risk of wider human-to-human transmission should not be regarded as “surprising” given the similarity to earlier Sars and Mers outbreaks”
In other words, they were sending mixed signals, and most troubling the WHO (World Health) should not be basing information given to the entire world exclusively from what the Communist Party of China, released to the public.
The WHO has also been attacked over its continuing exclusion of Taiwan from membership because Beijing considers it to be Chinese territory. This is clear evidence of communist influence in the WHO.
Trump’s decision to cut funding was welcomed in some quarters, including by the Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong, who called the WHO an “arm of Chinese diplomacy”.
Let’s look at the heat Trump has received from his critics. It is fascinating to see who some of the most vocal opponents are.
- WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said ““We regret the decision of the president of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organization,” Tedros said. “WHO is reviewing the impact on our work of any withdrawal of U.S. funding and will work with our partners to fill any financial gaps we face.”
- In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the country is “seriously concerned” about the U.S. decision.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement, “Now is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences.”
- German minister Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas said Trump’s decision to cut off funding in the middle of a pandemic was nonsensical. “The virus knows no borders,” Maas said in a tweet
- Mark Suzman, chief executive of the Gates Foundation – the second largest funder of the WHO after the US – said he would “strongly oppose” any cuts to the funding of the WHO which was critical to the Covid-19 crisis. He also announced a further $150m donation towards the hunt for a vaccine, for which the foundation plans to build factories and therapeutics.
- Bill Gates tweeted “Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds”
- “Halting funding to the WHO is a dangerous, short-sighted and politically motivated decision, with potential public health consequences for all countries in the world, whether they are rich or poor,” said Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and formerly head of UNAIDS.
- The European Union on Wednesday said Trump has “no reason” to freeze WHO funding at this critical stage and called for measures to promote unity instead of division.
- Laurie Garrett, a former senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, said the decision was a “damnable” act by a “spiteful” Trump and would cost lives. “Meanwhile, WHO is the only lifeline most African, Latin American and Asia Pacific nations have.”
- “Now is not the time to hold back funding. Once the pandemic is under control, lessons can be learned. For now, focus on overcoming this crisis,” Sigrid Kaag, minister for foreign trade and development cooperation of the Netherlands said on Twitter.
- Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, called Trump’s decision “extremely problematic,” noting that WHO is leading efforts to help developing countries fight the spread of COVID-19.
- Lawrence Gostin, the director of the WHO centre on public health and human rights, predicted the US would ultimately lose out because other countries would step into the vacuum with increased funding. “In global health and amidst a pandemic, America will lose its voice,” said Gostin
- Dr Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, said the WHO did make mistakes and may need reform but that work needed to take place after the crisis had passed. “It’s not the middle of a pandemic that you do this type of thing,” he said.
- Richard Horton, the editor-in-chief of the Lancet medical journal, wrote that Trump’s decision was “a crime against humanity … Every scientist, every health worker, every citizen must resist and rebel against this appalling betrayal of global solidarity
- “The President’s halting of funding to the WHO as it leads the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic is senseless,” Nancy Pelosi said in a new statement.“We can only be successful in defeating this global pandemic through a coordinated international response with respect for science and data,” she added. Pelosi indicated congressional Democrats would seek to challenge the decision as a number of world leaders similarly criticize the move. “This decision is dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged,” Pelosi said.
