US officials openly criticized the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday, accusing the international agency of failing to properly respond to the coronavirus pandemic. US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Alex Azar, mentioned that the WHO's inadequate response and failure has cost "many lives."
Azar accused the United Nation's health agency of failing to obtain adequate information in a timely manner to give other countries enough data to effectively respond to the crisis. The official made the accusations during the first day of the WHO's World Health Assembly, which was held online on Monday.
Referencing the latest accusations made by the US against China, Azar lambasted the WHO's alleged attempt to cover up the outbreak, which he added had resulted in severe economic and societal costs to the rest of the world. The official continued that the WHO had failed in its core mission and its transparency obligations, which he warned can never happen again.
Azar's sentiments echo the Trump Administration's criticism of the United Nation's health agency. US President Donald Trump previously accused the agency of being "China-centric," which he then followed up with threats to cut off US funding. Trump reiterated that threat on Monday in a post on Twitter, which included an attached letter that was sent to the agency's director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom.
Trump mentioned in the letter that if the WHO does not make substantive improvements within the next 30 days, the US would permanently freeze its funding and reconsider its membership.
In April, Trump had temporarily ordered a freeze of US funding to the organization pending a review of its response to the pandemic. During that time, the WHO responded by saying that the pandemic was still in its acute phase and it is not the appropriate time to withhold funding. Experts have pointed out that Trump really does not have the power to withhold funding as it is a matter appropriated by Congress.
The WHO stated that it would conduct its own review of how it had handled the crisis at the "appropriate moment," but urged member nations to continue their funding to aid in its fight to control the pandemic.
Neglecting to respond to the US' accusations, Chinese President Xi Jinping told the attendants of the assembly that China will provide an additional $2 billion over the next two years to help the organization respond to the impact of the pandemic.
Chinese officials have repeatedly stated that the country has always been open and transparent when it came to the disease, explaining that it had actively shared information with other nations and organizations throughout the crisis. Officials added that the country even shared the genome sequence of the virus immediately after its scientist had discovered it.
