The president of the United States of America (USA) has announced that the U.S.A will be terminating its relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Trump said “Today we will be terminating our relationship with the world health organization and we will be redirecting the money to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs.”
In his less than ten minutes speech Trump made serious claims over handling of the corona virus pandemic, accusing the UN agency of becoming a puppet of China. He said Chinese officials “ignored their reporting obligations” to the World Health Organization about the virus – that has killed hundreds of thousands of people globally – and pressured the agency to “mislead the world.”
He said WHO has failed to adequately respond to the coronavirus because China has “total control” over the global organization.
Quit
The move to quit the World Health Organization, which the United States formally joined in 1948, comes amid growing tensions between USA and China over the coronavirus outbreak. The virus first emerged in China’s Wuhan city late last year.
He noted that the U.S. contributes about $450 million to the world body while China provides about $40 million.
The U.S. is the largest source of financial support to the WHO and its exit is expected to significantly weaken the organization. Trump said the U.S. would be “redirecting” the money to “other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs,” without providing specifics.
Trump did not outline a deadline for the historic action. But if carried out, it would mean that the United States would no longer treat Hong Kong and China as separate entities for the purposes of extradition, customs, trade and visa issues, he said. And the announcement could include sanctions on Hong Kong or Chinese officials.
Failed
Trump said the decision came because WHO has “failed to make” reforms the U.S. requested. Last month Trump temporarily froze U.S funding to the WHO while his administration was reviewing membership. The U.S has previously contributed over $400 million per year to WHO’s $4.8 billion annual budget, more than any other country.
Last week, Trump sent a letter to WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, outlining his views on how the agency favors China and asking the organization to “commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days.” Just 11 days later, Trump claimed the reforms had not been made and the U.S. would withdraw from the organization
According to the Washington Post, House Democrats have complained Trump doesn’t have the authority to cut off WHO funding and accused him of scapegoating the organization to distract from his own administration’s stilted response to the pandemic. When Trump announced the temporary freeze last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would “swiftly” challenge the move but did not elaborate further on what action might be taken.
The Washington Post also states that, Trump’s announcement was quickly criticized by health experts, who claimed it would set back global efforts to track and defeat a virus that’s already killed more than 360,000 people and sickened nearly 6 million. But the move has been cheered by Trump’s base, which is distrustful of international bodies.
The American Medical Association, the nation’s largest physician group, urged Trump in the “strongest terms possible” to reverse the decision. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the head of the chamber’s health committee, warned canceling U.S. membership could disrupt clinical trials for vaccines that will be in high demand around the world.
“Certainly there needs to be a good, hard look at mistakes the World Health Organization might have made in connection with coronavirus, but the time to do that is after the crisis has been dealt with, not in the middle of it,” Alexander said.
Follow our WhatsApp Channel for the latest news:
Join Now
