Coronavirus Outbreak: Trump Halts Funding To WHO

In a decision with far-reaching ramifications, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States of America will halt the funding of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and in the interim, review the role of the world health body in "severely mismanaging and covering up" the transmission of the deadly coronavirus. The US President has in the past, repeatedly called out the UN body for failing to do its job. Donald Trump had earlier described WHO as China-centric in its response to the Coronavirus global pandemic.

The US President, while announcing the suspension of its funding to WHO, said, " I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organisation while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus."

The deadly pandemic has claimed more than 25,000 lives in the United States and 1,19,000 lives worldwide.

The virus first manifested itself in Wuhan in Hubei province of China. In the months to follow, it spread all over the world claiming thousands of lives and severely impacting world economy. The US President added that as WHO's leading sponsor, the United States "has a duty to insist on full accountability."

The US President sees the decision of the WHO to oppose travel restrictions from China as something disastrous for the US. President Trump remarked, "They were very much opposed to what we did, fortunately, I was not convinced and suspended travel from China saving untold numbers of lives...thousands and thousands of people would have died."

The United States funds the WHO to the extent of $400 million each year.