Stopping Funding For WHO At This Point Of Time Is Self-Defeating
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-04-16 19:29:52
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The decision of the Trump administration to stop funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) is ill-conceived. If the WHO faltered in not making additional and independent inquiries before pushing "China's misinformation about the coronavirus", the US is within its rights to raise queries, find out what went wrong and suggest corrective action so that such lapses do not occur in the future. Halting funding to a body that has the infrastructure, the reach and the expertise to cater to the entire world, especially in times like these, is self-defeating.
While the US has said that the funding is being stopped pending a review which will be done to assess the role played by WHO in mismanaging information and "covering up the spread of the coronavirus", this is not the right way to go about it. The WHO needs funds at all times and more so now. It is at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus and is coordinating efforts in many countries. It is also engaged in conducting "solidarity trials" for the drug Remdesivir to tests its efficacy against coronavirus. It is also engaged in many other activities across the globe. All this needs money and the US has added responsibility in this regard as it is the highest donor.
It is clear that the Trump administration is trying to take out its frustration on the WHO. It delayed acting on the information and did not take the decision to lock down the country even when it was clear that the virus was spreading like wildfire. Most countries in Europe were affected yet the US administration dilly-dallied. With more than 2000 people dying every day across the US now, Trump thinks it is time to pass the buck to the WHO. But the buck has a strange propensity to always come back to the President's desk.
The US has the largest network of spy satellites and a huge web of agents and informers across the globe. It also has the biggest pool of brilliant scientists and spends billions of dollars on research every year. If it was not satisfied with the information provided by the WHO, it could have made independent inquiries and acted accordingly. When the health and well-being of its citizens were involved, and when a country like China (whom the US does not trust even for the smallest thing) was involved, it should have double-checked everything. Stopping the funding, even if for the time being, is going to hamper the ongoing projects of the WHO and the US, like all other nations, will also suffer for that.
