U.S-China Differences Negatively Impact on World Health Organization

WASHINGTON, U.S. – Following accusations by the United States against the World Health Organization, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he was ending the U.S. relationship with the WHO and suspend U.S. funding over its, in his eyes, poor handling of the Coronavirus crisis. He added that the organization has become a puppet in China’s hands and had failed to make the reforms it had previously demanded. The U.S. funding of the WHO will be distributed to other organizations. In his assertion of the WHO dependence on China, Trump said that;

“China fully controls the organization, even though it pays only $40 million a year, compared to what the United States pays, which is about $450 million a year. Given their failure to make the required reforms, we will today end our relationship with WHO, and we will redirect those funds to cover other public health needs around the world.”

The decision by the U.S. president raised concerns with health officials in his administration and Republican party that the decision would have a negative impact on WHO effectiveness in finding a vaccine for COVID-19. Senate Health Committee Chairman Alexander Lamar, who in a statement on Friday opposed the U.S. suspension of funding for the WHO said that;

“there is an important need to take a good and accurate look at the mistakes that WHO may have made with the response to Coronavirus, but the time to do that is after the crises, not in the middle of it. Withdrawing funding from WHO could harm its efforts to coordinate work on a vaccine for the virus.”