President Donald Trump is in news for not being able to handle the coronavirus well in the USA. Following this, he has put all blame on the World Health Organisation and clearly stated that he has planned to halt the funding America gives to the WHO. He has raised some serious questions about how WHO has responded to the virus.
This, however, comes as a major jolt for the WHO, especially during the pandemic. Trump at a White House news conference says the WHO had "failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable." He said the group had promoted China's "disinformation" about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak of the virus than otherwise would have occurred.
Trump receives flak as coronavirus grips US
Trump has received a lot of flak as coronavirus grips the US and it is probably this anger that has led to this step. His response has been stated to be too 'slow and ineffective', which led to the spread of the virus in America. He was quoted as saying that, "Everybody knows what is going on there." He blamed WHO for opposing travel restrictions from China and other countries, adding that if these restrictions were imposed on time, the virus would have been contained by now.
It was earlier reported that the Trump administration was contemplating to cut global health funds in its 2021 budget proposal. Cutting about $3 billion in overall programs, including half of its annual funding to the WHO, is what the precise figures are and it is WHO that has been leading the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.
However, it should be noted that the president wasn't very clear in his announcement about stopping the funding but he did say that America would halt payments while the administration reviewed its role in handling the virus.
In 2019, about $553 million out of the WHO's $6 billion budget, was contributed by the USA. This is a significant amount of money for the WHO to lose in the middle of a pandemic.
Reports had also stated that the cuts were a part of a broader bid by the Trump administration to cut over 21 per cent from the federal budget for foreign aid.
The President was repeatedly stating that his decision of imposing a travel ban on flights coming in from China and going to China was indeed correct. This is also proof that Trump did respond to the coronavirus spread early.
He stated that this decision of his was fought by the WHO blaming the organization for 20-fold rise in cases of coronavirus worldwide.
