WHO chief brushes off resignation calls, appeals for US aid
THE WORLD Health Organization (WHO) chief said Wednesday he hopes the United States will reconsider its freeze in funding for his agency and vowed to keep working on “saving lives” despite calls from some US lawmakers for his resignation.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he hopes the US believes the agency is “an important investment, not just to help others, but for the US to stay safe” amid the pandemic.
HALT IN FUNDING
President Donald Trump last week announced a temporary halt to US funding for the UN agency, alleging a WHO cover-up and missteps handling the outbreak. The US is the Geneva-based agency’s biggest donor, providing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of support each year.
In Washington, officials said
Wednesday the halt involved new funding for the WHO, and was expected to continue for 60 to 90 days.
A group of Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives last week suggested that Trump should condition any voluntary US contributions to the WHO this year on Ghebreyesus’ resignation.
Asked about whether he was considering that, Ghebreyesus said: “I will continue to work day and night because this is a blessed work, actually, and responsibility saving lives, and I will focus on that.”
Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies chief, said the US pause would impact core agency activities like child immunisations, efforts to eradicate polio, and “essential health services and trauma management in some of the most vulnerable populations in the world”.