Geneva – The World Health Organization said on Friday that it examined its priorities in preparation for the withdrawal of its greatest donor, the United States, and stressed that it provides vital services that protect the country from threats from health. President Trump signed a decree on Monday order the United States to withdraw of the WHO, a body he criticized several times on his manipulation of COVVI-19 pandemic.
“This announcement made our financial situation more acute, and we know that it has created an important concern and uncertainty for the workforce of the WHO,” said Tedros Adhanomesususus. In a letter sent to WHO staff on Thursday and seen by AFP.
He stressed that the United Nations health agency regretted the decision of the United States leader – by far the greatest donor of the agency – and hoped that “the new administration will reconsider it”.
Jean Bizimana / Reuters
“We are open to engaging in a constructive dialogue to preserve and strengthen the historical relationship between WHO and the United States,” he said.
WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said to journalists on Friday that the American withdrawal would be an error, according to the agency.
“Who protects the United States with a sophisticated health intelligence system that strives to detect, characterize and assess threats in real time,” he said. In particular, he has pointed out the current bird flu epidemic (H5N1), which infected dozens of people and won a life in the United States
“We had, in fact, individuals who already contact us on the concern that this could now be a problem, because the data no longer manifests and cannot be shared,” said Lindmeier.
Tedros stressed in his letter that the United Nations agency should now seek to identify its “key priorities”.
“We are examining the activities to prioritize with a reduced resource envelope,” he said.
He pointed out that WHO had recently expanded its financing base and would continue to rely on solid support from its member states and other sources.
But he recognized the need to “reduce costs and achieve efficiency gains”.
Among other things, he said that the agency “gathered recruitment, except in the most critical fields” and considerably reduced travel expenses.
The American withdrawal will take a year and American funding will remain in place for this period, according to the rules of the organization. But Mr. Trump’s order has also asked the staff of the American federal government to stop working with the group – which US health officials do on a wide range of health problems with global concern.
On “CBS Mornings more” earlier this week, the CBS News chief correspondent, Dr. Jon Lapok, said that health experts were already worried about the implications of the American withdrawal.
“Public health experts to whom I spoke fear having a world leadership position with this and, if there is, for example, the next pandemic, it would help in terms of communication, to be able to be in communication With everyone in the world, “said Lapook.
Although there are other communication routes, such as raising awareness of medical societies and individuals, Lapok said “it is good to have a coordinated effort”.
The White House declared on Monday evening in a statement that the United States retired from the WHO “due to the mismanagement of the organization of COVID-19 of the organization which Wuhan came outChina and other global health crises, its inability to adopt reforms urgently and its inability to demonstrate the independence of the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states. “”
