On April 19, a G20 summit of ministers of health was held in a video conference format on the “development of the situation with coronavirus infection in the world and its impact on public health”. The head of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Mikhail Murashko took part in it. He called for WHO's support in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, as well as improved response mechanisms to such threats.

“Today we should already think about the need to improve the global mechanism for responding to challenges with infectious diseases,” Murashko said during his speech.

In addition to the G20 countries, the videoconference was attended by representatives of several countries outside the group, as well as international and regional organizations, including the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

According to the Minister of Health of Saudi Arabia (in 2020 the kingdom presides over the G20. - RT ) Tawfik al-Rabia, the purpose of the meeting is to jointly determine "common health priorities", in particular on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Ar-Rabia also noted that the summit was designed to help states exchange “best practices,” “innovative and effective solutions” necessary to “improve the entire spectrum of initiatives to combat COVID-19 around the world.”

Recall that at the end of March, an online meeting of the G20 leaders was held, at which the G20 health ministers were instructed to organize a meeting, share their experience and develop a set of urgent measures to jointly combat the pandemic. This was stated in the press release of the conference organizers. 

Then, with the proposal to create “green corridors free from trade wars and sanctions for the reciprocal supply of medicines, food, equipment and technology,” Russian President Vladimir Putin made.

“Ideally, we should introduce a moratorium, a joint moratorium on restrictions on essential goods, as well as on financial transactions for their procurement. And first of all, I'm talking about countries that are suffering the most from this pandemic. In the end, this is a question about the life and death of people, it is a purely humanitarian issue. We need to cleanse these issues from all kinds of political husk, ”the Russian leader said.

The COVID-19 outbreak was first recorded in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of December 2019. Currently, outside of China, the disease has been detected in patients in more than 200 countries. On March 11, the World Health Organization announced the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Johns Hopkins University, as of April 19, a total of more than 2.3 million people had the disease confirmed, 164 thousand of them died.

The United States is in first place in the world in the number of cases, over 746 thousand cases of infection have been detected there. In Europe, Spain became the leader in the number of infected people (almost 196 thousand cases), followed by Italy (about 179 thousand cases), France (about 153 thousand) and Germany (more than 145 thousand).

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According to Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, despite the general lack of cooperation on the spread of coronavirus infection on the world stage, the meeting of representatives of the G20 countries is “a good chance to normalize such cooperation.”

“The G-20 is a structure that, regardless of the block positions of the unions or their absence, can unite different countries in solving such an important problem as the COVID-19 pandemic,” the analyst said in an interview with RT.

Shapovalov also emphasized that in emergency conditions it is especially important for the countries of the world to “establish contact”.

“We see that even the union states do not really help each other in the fight against infection. This was especially illustrated by the situation with the spread of coronavirus in Europe, where the countries of the union destroyed the “Schengen” and forgot about any obligations to each other. There are only certain countries that demonstrate solidarity, first of all, China and Russia, ”the expert said.

WHO situation

In anticipation of the meeting of the G20 health ministers, WHO has prepared a program document that accuses the world's states of unpreparedness for a pandemic, requires large investments and emphasizes its leading role in the global fight against infectious diseases. This 16-page document, which was at the disposal of the German magazine Der Spiegel, also states that most countries in the world are poorly or mediocre prepared for the epidemic.

According to the organization, only a third of countries are able to detect and respond to epidemic outbreaks, but even in highly developed health systems, the ability to provide basic services is "limited." In poor countries with weaker systems, the consequences of a coronavirus pandemic will be "catastrophic," according to the organization.

Recall, a few days before the meeting of G20 health ministers, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington is suspending funding for the World Health Organization. 

“As the lead donor to the World Health Organization, the United States has been pushing for full accountability. One of the most dangerous and costly decisions of WHO was its fatal speech against restricting communication with China and other countries, ”the head of the White House said in his speech.

The international community has reacted negatively to Trump's decision. So, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrel, wrote on his Twitter that the European Union “deeply regrets” the current situation.

“At a time when the efforts of this organization (WHO. - RT ) are more than ever necessary to contain and mitigate the coronavirus pandemic, this step cannot be justified. Only by joining forces can we overcome this crisis, which knows no boundaries, ”he stressed.

  • US President Donald Trump
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China, Germany and France expressed their disagreement with the decision of the head of the White House to suspend funding for the World Health Organization.

Russia also condemned Washington’s actions. Gennady Gatilov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Office in Geneva, told reporters that the US decision to suspend contributions "is causing serious damage to an international organization that has played and continues to play a leading, coordinating role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic."

In turn, UN Secretary General Antoniu Guterres noted that “now is not the time” to suspend funding for WHO and any other humanitarian structures needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, the World Health Organization is an important institution that is of key importance in the fight against the spread of coronavirus infection.

"Important factor"

According to an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research Vladimir Bruter, despite the fact that the United States has suspended funding for the World Health Organization, this institution will continue to play a key role in combating the spread of coronavirus infection.

“After all, the United States cannot prohibit other countries from investing in WHO, it is impossible. And now the efforts of other states should be aimed at blocking the share of injections from the United States - this is about $ 500 million a year, as well as expanding aid. Many countries can participate in this, including Russia and China, ”the analyst said in a conversation with RT.

Bruther emphasized that WHO support is essential as the structure fulfills critical tasks.

“The organization cooperates with the governments of sovereign countries and performs quite significant functions - both advisory and supervisory. In this case, we are talking primarily about controlling the spread of coronavirus infection in the world. In addition, WHO summarizes, analyzes the information that it receives, and transmits it ready-made to all countries of the world. Given that contact between states affected by the coronavirus epidemic is not always possible, this becomes especially important, ”the expert said.

As Bruther emphasized, that is why increasing WHO funding is "an important factor in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic."

“After all, no institution will work without funds, all the more so global as the World Health Organization, which has offices in all countries of the world. In the event of a shortage of money, the organization will not be able to carry out its statutory activities. At the same time, governments of the world should not shift responsibility for their failures to WHO, ”said the analyst.

  • WHO headquarters
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According to Vladimir Shapovalov, the situation around the World Health Organization clearly shows that in the behavior of the United States "currently selfish interests prevail."

“This country has not only stopped paying WHO, but is not very keen to help its allies. Not to mention the accusations against China, ”the expert said.

Shapovalov emphasized that in a pandemic, "there is no point in blaming someone, settling old scores or trying to strengthen positions."

“The coronavirus pandemic is precisely the situation that clearly demonstrates the need for joint action. Since only by common efforts it is possible to create a vaccine quite effectively, to take measures to prevent and counteract the further spread of COVID-19, to take care of world security, ”the analyst concluded.