“The big winner today is the Chinese government,” he said. Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the move would only hasten the rise of Chinese influence in international institutions. “WHO could have been more assertive with China and declared a global health emergency sooner, but it is performing an essential function and needs our strong support, especially now.”ĭemocratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said in a statement to Foreign Policy. “Not wanting to take responsibility as the deaths continue to mount, he blames others,” Democratic Sen. coronavirus death toll reached a grim milestone, surpassing 100,000. aid official now with the Center for Global Development.ĭemocratic lawmakers slammed the move, asserting Trump was scapegoating the WHO to cover up his administration’s own failings in the domestic pandemic response. relies on WHO to deliver,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former senior U.S. “What it will do is rupture global vaccine programs, polio eradication, Ebola response, and a thousand other global health tasks that the U.S. Other experts fear the decision will threaten the fate of other public health and vaccination programs around the world, beyond the current pandemic. “In places with poor health infrastructure that don’t have an existing strong presence, this is creating a gap that we can’t fill.” “This is the most counterproductive move in the middle of a world health crisis,” said Megan Doherty, a senior director of policy and advocacy at Mercy Corps and a former White House National Security Council director for North Africa during the Obama administration. Top Trump officials and Republican allies in Congress have criticized WHO for being too friendly with China and providing cover for Beijing in the wake of its initial cover-up and mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak.īut the announcement also drew swift condemnation from public health experts, who said it would undercut WHO’s ability to address the pandemic just as its spread in the developing world picks up. “Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs.” “We have detailed the reforms that it must make and engaged with them directly, but they have refused to act,” Trump said in a press conference on Friday. global health funding at the peak of a global pandemic. It also throws into question the fate of hundreds of millions of dollars of U.S. anger with the international organization against the backdrop of spiking tensions between Washington and Beijing. The move culminates months of growing U.S. But 11 days after the pronouncement, Trump pulled the trigger anyway, abruptly declaring on Friday the United States would be “terminating” its relationship with WHO and cutting off the institution from any U.S. President Donald Trump gave the World Health Organization an ultimatum: Start implementing reforms in 30 days or else the United States would halt funding for the international body.
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