Donald Trump announced that he was interrupting all of the nation’s contributions to the World Health Organization (WHO) in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century. America contributes $893 million for this two-year period. POTUS seemed to believe he had found the perfect fall guy for his own missteps or would that be the perfect fall it?
Co-founder of Microsoft and billionaire Bill Gates contributed $100 million toward the pandemic and opposed Trump’s latest ill-considered decision to interrupt all of WHO’s funding. He said that it was “dangerous” to pull funding in the middle of this coronavirus pandemic.
He tweeted, according to The Washington Post:
‘Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds. Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever.’
United Nations’ (U.N.) Secretary General Antonio Guterres said:
”[Now 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.’
The AMA (American Medical Association agreed that Trump’s act was “in the wrong direction.” It was a:
‘[D]angerous step in the wrong direction.”Cutting funding to the WHO — rather than focusing on solutions — is a dangerous move at a precarious moment for the world. The AMA is deeply concerned by this decision and its wide-ranging ramifications, and we strongly urge the President to reconsider.’
Trump said that he would halt funding for two to three months:
‘[W]hile a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role and severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus. We have not been treated properly,” Trump said at the Tuesday press briefing. He added, “The WHO pushed China’s misinformation about the virus.’
Expert at the Heritage Foundation (conservative) and a member of the U.N.’s Committee on Contributions Brett Schaefer said:
‘If the president wants to genuinely hold the WHO accountable, counter Chinese efforts to shift blame for COVID-19, and reform the WHO to better respond to the next pandemic, he should not cut funding — at least not yet.’
Gates added:
‘There really is no middle ground, and it’s very tough to say to people: ‘Hey, keep going to restaurants, go buy new houses, ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner. We want you to keep spending because there’s maybe a politician who thinks GDP growth is all that counts. It’s very irresponsible for somebody to suggest that we can have the best of both worlds.’
Earlier, Gates wrote an op-ed for The Post urging optimism via a path to recovery by “science, data, and the experience of medical professionals:”
‘There’s no question the United States missed the opportunity to get ahead of the novel coronavirus. But the window for making important decisions hasn’t closed. The choices we and our leaders make now will have an enormous impact on how soon case numbers start to go down, how long the economy remains shut down and how many Americans will have to bury a loved one because of covid-19.’
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