President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S. government will halt all funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) pending a review of the organization.
On Tuesday, April 14, Trump told reporters that the WHO has mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic.
“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. Everybody knows what’s going on there,” he said. “As the organization’s leading sponsor, the United States has a duty to insist on full accountability.”
Specifically, Trump said that the organization opposed his travel restrictions from China. The travel restrictions to and from China went into effect on February 2. Other nations, including Italy and Russia, had already suspended travel to and from China.
The WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern on Jan. 30. At the time, the organization stated, “The Committee does not recommend any travel or trade restriction based on the current information available.” In a statement, the WHO said that nations would be required Under Article 43 of the International Health Regulations to consult with the WHO before implementing measures that interfered with international traffic.
The United States is the single largest donor to the World Health Organization. A chart of the WHO’s donors lists the United States as providing 14.67 percent of the organization’s financing. In a Washington Post report, a State Department spokesperson said that the United States has committed $83 million during its current two-year funding period.
The WHO is funded through assessed and voluntary contributions. According to WHO records, the United States owed $57,883,460 in assessed contributions to the organization as a member state. For the 2020-2021 biennium, the United States owed a total of 115,766,922 – a total that combine 2020 payments with a payment of $57,883,462 for 2021.
Trump had earlier discussed the possibility of suspending funding for the organization.
In an April 13 press briefing, Trump said that he was “unhappy” with WHO, which he said has “ripped off” the United States. He did not specify how the WHO has taken advantage of the United States.
“I’m not happy with the World Health Organization. I’m not happy with the World Trade Organization either. We’ve been ripped off by everybody,” he said. “And we have — this country, for so many years, has been ripped off by everybody, whether it’s a World Health or World Trade. And they’re like — I call them the “Bobbsey Twins.” They’d look at our country — for years and years, we had people that did nothing about it.”
The WHO has worked to provide strategic guidance for nations in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. On Feb. 3, the organization published a Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, and has updated this with information accumulated since its initial publication.
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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
