African leaders rallied behind WHO Director Tidros Adhanoum Gebrissos, an Ethiopian, after US President Donald Trump criticized the United Nations organization and threatened to stop his country's funding.
Trump accused the WHO on Tuesday of focusing too much on China, and of giving bad advice on the "Covid-19" epidemic.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose country heads the African Union, said in a statement yesterday evening that the Director-General of the World Health Organization has shown "exceptional leadership since the very early stages of this unprecedented global health crisis."
He added, "The African Union calls on the international community to join hands to support the efforts of the Director General and the entire WHO family while they are leading the global efforts to combat this epidemic."
Rwanda President Paul Kagame wrote on Twitter that the director of the health organization "has the absolute confidence and support of Africa", while the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, urged the leaders to focus on combating "Covid-19" and said that accountability will come later.
Tedros rejected Trump's suggestion that the organization was "focusing on China" in its efforts to contain the spread of the Coruna virus.
He said the day before yesterday, "We are in close contact with all countries without discrimination", adding that the organization "informs the world of the latest data, information and evidence."
Africa accounts for a small percentage of the number of cases of the disease globally, but its countries feel the impact of the crisis, where economies are expected to shrink, which poses a threat to about 20 million jobs.
"The chance to contain the virus at the national and local levels is shrinking in many countries," Tedros told diplomats in Geneva yesterday. "The number of cases in Africa is relatively small now, but it is increasing rapidly."
The African Union called on the international community to support the efforts of the World Health Organization.