Amidst the novel Coronavirus Pandemic, various countries have been taking steps to combat the loss caused by the same, by introducing lockdowns, helping people with basic necessities like medicine and food. However, the country that has recorded the worst outcome, in terms of the number of people affected and the consequent casualty, The United States of America, seems to be working on a different aspect.
The US President, Donald J Trump, recently criticised the World Health Organisation (WHO) and announced that they might snap relations with the WHO as a step towards ‘boycotting’ China. He said, “World Health Organisation has very much sided with China on coronavirus crisis, asserting that many people are unhappy with the global health agency and feel that it’s been very unfair”.
Further, on March 30, President Trump announced that America would terminate their relationship with the World Health Organisation, as it has been biased towards the country which is held responsible for the ongoing pandemic. By terminating the relationship, he declared that the fund that is being contributed to WHO will be diverted to other public health organisations. He further added that the USA will now impose strict regulations on trade and travel relations with China.
Trump has held China responsible, and alleged mismanagement by the WHO, stating that “Chinese officials ignored their reporting obligations to the World Health Organisation and pressured the World Health Organization to mislead the world when the virus was first discovered by Chinese authorities. Countless lives have been taken, and profound economic hardship has been inflicted all around the globe.”
While terminating relations is the discretion of the concerned country, what needs to be understood is how breaking up with the most prominent public health organisation will serve any purpose. At a time when the pandemic has claimed a number of lives in the USA, will it not be an irresponsible political approach by the head of the state to not only stop funding the WHO but also to lose beneficiary rights?
Can Trump assure people that there are organisations that he is willing to fund, can actually work at the level that WHO does? How is he planning to support research work that would lead to the discovery of vaccines or antidotes? The USA, being the hub of global trade, education, and economy, has the potential to impact other countries as well in case the country’s administration fails to counter the graph.
It extremely important for any country to pay significant attention to the prevailing situation of health crisis and their utmost priority must be safety. Political tie-ups and disparities should not be mixed up.