President Trump’s plan to put a hold on U.S. funding for the World Health Organization during a global pandemic “is as dangerous as it sounds,” says billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates. The Microsoft founder joined others defending the WHO, which they say is doing vital work to fight COVID-19.
The coronavirus has plunged the world into a crisis that’s being compared to World War II and the Great Depression. It’s the worst time possible, Gates and others say, to take money away from the U.N. health agency.
“Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,” Gates said via Twitter. “Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever.”
The U.S. is the top contributor to the WHO; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is second. Trump announced on Tuesday that he would order the U.S. to stop funding the WHO while his administration reviews the organization – which he accused of “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also spoke out against Trump’s plan to defund the WHO, saying now is the time for unity, not cutting health resources…
To read the entire article from NPR, click https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/15/834848225/as-dangerous-as-it-sounds-reaction-to-u-s-plan-to-defund-who-during-a-pandemic?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=nprblogscoronavirusliveupdates
