No international organisation would have received such a remorseless birthday gift than this global health governance agency—World Health Organisation (WHO). The United States President Donald Trump has already earned an unsavoury reputation as the destroyer-extraordinary of multilateral organisations in the contemporary world. On 7 April 2020—on the 72nd anniversary of the WHO—Trump declared that he was planning to stop funding the organisation which was leading and guiding a battered world against a horrendous pandemic. Yet, many hoped a change of mind to Trump in a war like situation when the world is completely engaged in a fierce fight against COVID-19 under the leadership of WHO. But, exactly one week after his warning, on 14 April, Trump declared that the U.S. is going to halt funding the WHO.
The WHO is not the last in line to be dented by Trump since he assumed power. It all started with the withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); then moved on to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement (COP21), the Iran Nuclear Agreement (JCPOA) and, of course, from the UNESCO and the UNHRC. He has also stopped funding to UNRWA for Palestine Refugees and UN Population Fund. The WHO came next, but it will not be the end.
According to Trump, the WHO has committed three sins: “it is giving bad advice; China-centric; and withholding information.” What is the reality? Did the accusations hurled against the WHO hold any ground?
Check the facts:
1. On 30 January, the Director General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared a “public health emergency of international concern.” The WHO has shared almost all information to the world and scientific community as and when it received. It is a fact that in the initial stages China tried to hide the details about the virus attack in Wuhan. But that is not the fault of WHO. During the initial stages of COVID-19, Trump termed it as a disease caused by the virus which is no worse than the seasonal flu. He had also considered the media coverage of the virus as part of a political conspiracy to destroy his presidency.
2. There are reports that the heads of two critical agencies, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which are guiding the US fight against COVID-19, Anthony Fouci and Robert Redfield respectively, have participated the WHO conference held on 7 January. It means that the most important personalities came to know about the unfolding scenario as early as January.
3. Experts who are observing the global campaigns of WHO against COVID-19 have expressed their appreciation regarding the effort put in by it. By rejecting Trump’s allegation against the WHO regarding “bad advice,” the Director of Duke University’s Centre for Policy Impact in Global Health, Gavin Yamey stated that “If the United States had followed the WHO’s very clear advice on identifying cases, isolating cases and conducting contact tracing, then it wouldn’t be in the appalling situation that it is in today.” Contradicting the accusation raised by Trump against the WHO, on 12 April, Fouci himself stated that earlier action by the US President could have limited Covid-19-related deaths in the US.
On Trump’s allegation of ‘Chinese-centrality’ of WHO, Peter Beaumont and Sarah Boseley wrote in The Guardian that “it is largely not borne out by the evidence”… and rather “it appears Trump is following a familiar playbook” to avoid the ignominy in the failure in handling the pandemic. Moreover, the decision to cut the funds to WHO is not surprising given the fact that the Trump administration had already submitted a budgetary proposal in February to cut all health care funds by half. The present allegations are only an alibi to implement his economic plan of reviving a declining economy back on track.
The Geneva-based 72 year old organisation works on comparatively a small budget of around $5 billion. It is only a paltry budget considering the magnitude of responsibilities it has to keep. Unlike Ebola attack, COVID-19 is a pandemic which has been wreaking havoc to almost all parts of the world. Moreover, it has put up a global appeal for $1 to effectively combat the COVID-19. The gravity of the situation is discernible when countries like the U.S. also are seeking help from other nations to meet the demands of its frontline health care workers. But this is not the situation of poor countries. They are in dire need of support from organisations like the WHO. When the chips are down in the form of a global pandemic and it is fighting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, Trump’s attack on WHO will be a fatal blow. It would surely demoralise an already fragile organisation which is there to help the nations in need of help.
In fact, this is a time to support the global organisation by pooling as much fund as possible to stave off an impending global tragedy. By his declaration to stop funding the WHO, Trump has rendered a great disservice to the world and the U.S. as well. As an organisation which has now engaged in ensuring healthcare to all, halting of fund will derail the efforts to save humanity, generally, and the Global South in particular.
The U.S. is claiming that it is the global leader, and the countries across the world expect its leadership in times of grave trial. But the Commander-in-chief of the U.S. once again proved that he is a bad commander in leading the world by shooting down his own soldiers in a crucial fight against a horrific enemy. By this, he is not only defeating the U.S. citizens, who are struggling hard, but the health and wealth of the entire world. Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 episode has become another instance which testified his abject contempt for international organisations and to the genuine ways in addressing the issues faced by the people of the world.
