US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he has instructed his administration to halt World Health Organisation’s funding while a review is being conducted in the WHO’s “role in severely mismanaging and covering up” the spread of coronavirus after it emerged in China.
“Today I’m instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization. We will redirect global health and directly work with others. All of the aid that we send will be discussed at very, very powerful letters,” Trump said during a press conference.
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The US President has been critical of the body stating that the organisation was aware of the dangers of the coronavirus months before it took action.
While United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was “not the time” to reduce resources for the World Health Organization.
Guterres said in a statement it was “not the time to reduce the resources for the operations of the World Health Organization or any other humanitarian organization in the fight against the virus.”
“Now is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences,” he said.
The United States has been the worst-hit country from the coronavirus. The virus has killed over 25,000 people in the country since the outbreak. There are at least 594,207 cases of coronavirus in the US.
The US President also said the funding would be suspended while officials conduct a review “to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”
The WHO is being criticised globally for its alleged collusion with China, which led to the coronavirus turning into a pandemic, claiming over 75,000 lives globally.
Coronavirus, which has brought the entire world to a halt, first originated in China in December last year, killing 3,300 people in the country. Now the virus has infected around 1.9 million people around the world and killed 126,019 people.
(With agency inputs)