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 The
United States is the top donor to the Geneva-based body which Trump
said had issued bad advice during the new coronavirus outbreak.
U.S. contributions to WHO in 2019 exceeded $400 million, almost
double the 2nd largest member state contribution. China, in
contrast, contributed $44 million.
"We are still in the acute phase of a pandemic so now is not the
time to cut back on funding," Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director
for Europe, told a virtual briefing in response to a question about
Trump's remarks.
Dr Bruce Aylward, senior advisor to the WHO Director-General, also
defended the U.N. agency's relationship with China, saying its work
with Beijing authorities was important to understand the outbreak
which began in Wuhan.
"It was absolutely critical in the early part of this outbreak to
have full access to everything possible, to get on the ground and
work with the Chinese to understand this," he told reporters.
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"This is what we did with every other hard hit country like Spain and had
nothing to do with China specifically."
He also defended WHO recommendations to keep borders open, saying that China had
worked very hard to identify and detect early cases and their contacts and
ensure they did not travel in order to contain the outbreak.
On Europe, Kluge described the outbreak of coronavirus there as "very
concerning" and urged governments to give "very careful consideration" before
relaxing measures to control its spread.
"A dramatic rise in cases across the Atlantic skews what remains a very
concerning picture in Europe," he said. "We still have a long way to go in the
marathon."
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by
Jan Harvey and Alexandra Hudson)
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