By Audrey Lotechukwu
TUE, MAY 19 2020-theG&BJournal-The US President Donald Trump ended his letter to the World Health Organisation (WHO) through its Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus with a very terse warning-‘’If the World Health Organisation does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organisation permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization, that in its present state, is so clearly not serving America’s interest.’’
Dr Tedros and the WHO have faced criticisms from day one for their response to the coronavirus pandemic culminating in the temporary withdrawal of funding on April 14, 2020 by the United State President, who expressed open dismay for ‘’WHO’s alarming lack of independence from the people’s Republic of China.’’
Trump is blaming WHO for ignoring credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019, including reports by Lancet medical journal as well as evidence highlighted by Chinese media of a new virus emerging from Wuhan, based on patient data sent to multiple Chinese genomics companies.
‘’During this period, Dr Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, told China’s health authorities that a new coronavirus was causing a novel disease that was, at that time, afflicting approximately 180 patients.
Trump also pointed to the information communicated by Taiwanese authorities indicating human-to-human transmission of a new virus.
‘’Yet the World Health Organisation chose not to share any of this critical information with the rest of the world, probably for political reasons,’’ Trump said, noting that the International Health Regulations require countries to report the risk of a health emergency within 24 hours.
Trump also accused the world health body of repeatedly making claims about the coronavirus that were ‘’either grossly inaccurate or misleading.’’ He pointed to numerous occasions when the WHO had praised China instead of speaking up against it for the virus cover-up within China and slammed it for down-playing the very risk of asymptomatic spread, ‘’telling the world that COVID-19 does not transmit as efficiently as influenza and that unlike influenza this disease was not primarily driven by people who are infected but not yet sick.’’
‘’By the time you finally declared the virus a pandemic on March 11, 2020, it had killed more than 4,000 people and infected more than 100,000 people in at least 114 countries around the world.’’
Trump also referred to the letters written on April 11, 2020 by several African Ambassadors to Chinese Foreign Ministry about the discriminatory treatment of Africans related to the pandemic in Guangzhou and other cities in China.
‘’You were aware that the Chinese authorities were carrying out a campaign of forced quarantine, evictions, and refusal of services against the nationals of these countries. You have commented on China’s racially discriminatory actions. You have, however baselessly labelled as racist Taiwan’s well-founded complaints about your mishandling of this pandemic.’’
Trump told Dr Tedros and WHO that their repeated missteps in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly to the world.
‘’The only way forward for the World Health Organisation is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China.’’ He said his administration has opened discussion with WHO on how to reform the organisation.
‘’But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste.’’
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