REPUBLICANS URGE DONALD TRUMP TO WITHHOLD FUNDS UNLESS WHO CHIEF QUITS

Washington, USA

Congressional Republicans have urged President Donald Trump to condition United States funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) on the resignation of its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus over his handling of the Coronavirus pandemic.

US Vice President Mike Pence, US President Donald Trump, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci and Response coordinator for White House Coronavirus Task Force Deborah Birx participate in the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus.

The Republicans have accused Tedros of being too willing to believe Beijing and of brushing off a Taiwanese warning on the ease of viral transmission.

As the world is grappling with the Coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the economies, Trump on Tuesday, announced cutting off funding up to $500 million annually to WHO, accusing the UN body of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the spread of the deadly Coronavirus when it first emerged in China.

Seventeen Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said they had "lost faith" in Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' WHO leadership, even as they stressed the organisation is vital to tackling the world's health problems.

"Director-General Tedros has failed in his mandate to objectively respond to the largest global health crisis since the HIV/AIDS pandemic," the lawmakers, led by Republican Michael McCaul, wrote Trump in a letter.

He accused it of "mismanaging" the crisis and covering up the seriousness of the Covid-19 outbreak in China before it spread.

World Health Organization chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

More than 141,000 people worldwide have died, and the global economy has nosedived.

Tedros, they said, delayed emergency declarations "despite clear evidence of the rapid spread and human-to-human transmission of Covid-19".

WHO declared a pandemic on 11 March, after 114 countries had reported cases and 4,500 people had died, and after weeks of Tedros advising against travel bans.

"We have lost faith in Director-General Tedros' ability to lead the World Health Organisation," the lawmakers said.

But they added that they "understand, and value, the vital role that the WHO plays around the world, especially in acute humanitarian settings".

They also noted that the WHO is often "the only organisation working on the ground in the worst places in the world, and the US should continue to support this important work".

But they urged swift action to ensure the "impartiality, transparency, and legitimacy" of the WHO.

"We recommend that you condition any future Fiscal Year 2020 voluntary contributions to the WHO on the resignation of Director-General Tedros."

The 55-year-old malaria specialist is Ethiopia's former minister of health and foreign affairs.