Billionaire philanthropist, Bill Gates has slammed President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold $500million in funding to the World Health Organisati
Billionaire philanthropist, Bill Gates has slammed President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold $500million in funding to the World Health Organisation, saying it’s as dangerous as it sounds, DailyMail is reporting.
The tech magnate, worth $104billion, said the US’ involvement with the WHO is more necessary than ever.
“Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds. Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs WHO now more than ever.”
On Tuesday night, Trump announced he would halt funding to the WHO immediately for ‘its role in severely mismanaging the spread of coronavirus’ and would launch an investigation into their mishandling of the pandemic. The United States funds $400 million to $500 million to the WHO each year – roughly 15 percent of the organization’s entire budget. Trump claims the group failed to investigate early signs of the virus’ ability to spread from one human to another and failed to call out China for its lack of transparency over the virus.
The US Chamber of Commerce and the American Medical Association lead the outrage against Trump’s controversial move, saying it wasn’t in the best interest of the country and urged him to reconsider.
The WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus while praising the US as a longstanding and generous friend of the WHO, in response to Trump’s decision, had noted that the organization isn’t just fighting COVID-19, it’s working to fight a slew of other illnesses including malaria, cancer, and HIV across the globe.
“We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in funding to the WHO. We will work with our partners to fill any financial gaps we face to ensure our work continues uninterrupted.”
The WHO first declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern in late January. One week later the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged up to $100million to help contain the pandemic and help find a vaccine for the virus and limit its spread. Of that pledge, $20million went to groups including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the next biggest donor to the WHO after the US and accounts for close to 10 percent of the United Nations agency’s funding.
