COVID-19:U.S.A. Starts Withdrawal Process From WHO
President Donald Trump has formally begun the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organ -ization, carrying out threats over the UN body’s response to the coronavirus, Government Officials said Tuesday.
According to Agence France Press(AFP) , the United States,the biggest financial contributor to the WHO — which leads the fight on global diseases from polio to measles,AIDS ,to mental health — has increasingly been underTrump’s criticism as the coronavirus takes a heavy toll.
After threatening to suspend the $400 million in annual US contributions and then announcing its withdrawal, Trump has formally notified UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of the begin -ning of the US pullout, a State Depa -rtment spokesperson stated.
The withdrawal would be effective in one year — July 6, 2021 — and Joe Biden, Trump’s presumptive Democratic opponent, is almost certain to cancel it and stay in the WHO if he triumphs over Trump in the November election.
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for Guterres, confirmed that the United States had given its notice.
Under conditions set when the United States joined the World Health Organization in 1948, Washington has to give a one-year notice before pulling out — and meet its remaining assessed financial obligations, Dujarric explained.
"To call Trump’s response to COVID -19 chaotic and incoherent doesn’t do it justice,” said Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, who confirmed that Congress was notified.
“This won’t protect American lives or interests — it leaves Americans sick & America alone,” he stated.
Trump has accused the World Health Organization of bias toward China, saying it ignored early signs of human-to-human transmission of the deadly virus.
While many public health advocates agree with some criticism of the WHO, they question what other powers the world body possess other than to work with China, where COVID-19 was first recorded late last year.
Critics say Trump is seeking to divert criticism from his own handling of the pandemic in the United States, which has suffered by far the highest death toll worldwide.
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