WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION RESPONDS TO US PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FUNDING HALT WITH REGRET

By Agencies

The head of the World Health Organisation says he regrets US President Donald Trump's decision to pull funding from the agency and has called for the world to pull together.

"The United States of America has been a long-standing and generous friend of the WHO and we hope it will continue to be so," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference.

"We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in the funding to the WHO."

The comments came after Mr Trump's move to halt funding to the WHO over its handling of the pandemic.

The US is the largest donor to the WHO, providing more than $US400 million in 2019, roughly 15 per cent of its budget.

"WHO is reviewing the impact on our work of any withdrawal of US funding and we will work with partners to fill any gaps and ensure our work continues uninterrupted," Dr Tedros added.

Dr Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergencies expert, said there would be opportunities in coming weeks and months to discuss WHO's budget with its other 193 states.

Mr Trump's decision also drew the ire of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday.

Ms Pelosi was not the only one to go on the attack over Mr Trump's decision as figures from Johns Hopkins University showed COVID-19 infections passed 2 million and the disease had killed over 128,000 people.

The European Union on Wednesday said Trump had "no reason" to freeze WHO funding at this critical stage and called for measures to promote unity instead of division.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Trudie Lang, a professor of global health research at Oxford University, said attempts to hinder WHO's work could have significant consequences for the pandemic response.

"The reason we're making such fast progress on diagnostics, vaccines and drugs is because of WHO's role as a neutral broker," she said.

Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas pushed back against Mr Trump's rhetoric.

"The virus knows no borders. We must work closely against COVID-19."

The Netherlands also threw its support behind the WHO.

"Now is not the time to hold back funding. Once the pandemic is under control, lessons can be learned. For now, focus on overcoming this crisis,"

Sigrid Kaag, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, said on Twitter.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the country was "seriously concerned" about the US Government's decision to suspend funding.

And Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned against politicising the issue and said he believed WHO had "acted effectively" in its handling of the pandemic.

Earlier Bill Gates, whose foundation was the second-largest donor to the WHO for its latest two-year budget, contributing over $US530 million ($836 million) in 2018 and 2019, wrote that stopping funding for WHO during a world health crisis "is as dangerous as it sounds".