(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) WHO regrets that U.S. halt grants will work with partners to bridge funding gaps
China News Agency, Brussels, April 15th, news from Geneva: After US President Trump halted appropriation for WHO, WHO Director-General Tan Desai said on the 15th that WHO regrets the US decision. Will work with partners to make up for the funding gap.
Tan Desai said at the regular press conference held at the WHO headquarters in Geneva that the United States has long been a generous partner of WHO. With the help of the US government and the American people, WHO is committed to improving many of the world ’s most impoverished and The health status of the most vulnerable people, "We regret the decision of the US President to stop granting funds to WHO."
Faced with repeated inquiries from reporters, Tan Desai said that WHO is evaluating the impact of the suspension of funding in the United States and will work with partners to make up for the shortfall in funding and ensure that WHO ’s work will not be interrupted.
Tan Desai reiterated that since the establishment of the WHO, the purpose is to "regardless of race, religion, political beliefs, economic or social conditions, to ensure that everyone enjoys the highest health standards that can be achieved"; in the current global fight against the new coronary pneumonia epidemic At the same time, WHO will continue to strive to serve the public health, science and all people of the world selflessly and fearlessly, regardless of the size or economic scale of the country, to cooperate with all countries without discrimination.
The data shows that WHO's funding is divided into two parts, one is the assessed contributions based on the financial and demographic conditions of member countries, and the other is voluntary contributions from member countries or other parties. According to WHO's data, the United States accounted for about 22% of the membership contributions for the 2020-2021 biennium; the United States accounted for about 37% of voluntary contributions from member countries in the 2016-2017 biennium (current statistics are up to the year).
After the outbreak of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic in January this year, in February, WHO released the first "strategic preparation and response plan" to respond to the outbreak. At that time, it planned to raise US $ 675 million, and has so far donated or pledged more than US $ 800 million; WHO launched the "Unity Response Fund" to respond to the epidemic, encouraging individuals, companies and institutions to donate directly to WHO. So far, nearly 150 million US dollars have been donated.
At the press conference on the 15th, Tan Desai thanked all parties for their financial support and emphasized that WHO welcomed the global solidarity embodied in it, "because solidarity is the rule to defeat the new coronary pneumonia epidemic"; he also said that each member Countries and independent institutions will timely assess WHO ’s response to the outbreak, ensure WHO ’s transparency and accountability, and then identify deficiencies and lessons to be learned, “but for now our focus should be on curbing the outbreak and saving lives ". (Finish)