‘Our Focus Is on Saving Lives’: WHO Chief After US Funding Freeze

‘WHO’s Focus on Saving Lives,’ Says Chief After US Funding Freeze

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is purely focused on saving lives and halting the coronavirus pandemic, its chief said on Wednesday, 15 April, after US President Donald Trump announced he was freezing funding for the WHO.

"There is no time to waste. WHO's singular focus is on working to serve all people to save lives and stop the COVID-19 pandemic," director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter following Trump's decision.

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Trump said on Tuesday he was freezing the funding pending a review into the UN health agency's "role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus", adding, "everybody knows what's going on there."

The United States is the biggest individual contributor to WHO’s funds.

Tedros was due to host one of his thrice-weekly virtual press conferences later on Wednesday from the organisation's headquarters in Geneva.

Tedros tweeted the WHO's updated strategic preparedness and response plan for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, which was released on Tuesday.

"The updated WHO global COVID-19 strategy guides the public health response at national and sub-national levels, including practical guidance for strategic action, tailored to the local context," he said.

“This principle will save lives and mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic,” he further said.

Trump's move has drawn criticism from the United Nations, Russia, China, the European Union, the African Union and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, another major WHO contributor through his foundation.

The pandemic has killed more than 125,000 people worldwide and infected at least two million people, according to an AFP tally.

(With inputs from PTI)