Trump’s WHO Funding Halt Adds Obstacle to Pandemic Fight

(Bloomberg) --

President Donald Trump’s move to suspend funding for the World Health Organization complicates the global fight against a pandemic that’s shown no regard for borders.

The rapid spread of the virus has fueled criticism of the United Nations agency that coordinates countries’ strategies for countering such outbreaks. Yet Trump’s direct attack on the WHO will undermine the organization’s ability to do its job, experts say, while making it harder to reach international consensus on any reforms.

“The WHO is now in a political crisis as well as a pandemic crisis,” said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “There is room for criticism of the WHO, but the time to call for reform is after the pandemic. This sends the wrong message, and it’s only going to make things more difficult.”

The president has blasted the WHO for being too deferential to China, saying it has taken the country’s claims about the coronavirus “at face value” and failed to share information about the pathogen as it spread.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency is reviewing the impact of the U.S. decision and will work with partners to ensure its activities aren’t interrupted.

‘Soul and Spirit’

“Since the beginning, WHO has been fighting the pandemic with every ounce of our soul and spirit. We will continue to do that until the end,” Tedros said at a press conference Wednesday.

Trump’s attack is intended to deflect attention from his own shortcomings in tackling the emergency, according to Robert Yates, executive director of the Centre for Universal Health at Chatham House, a London-based think tank.

“I think we’re all reeling a bit,” he said. “We are in a state of shock that President Trump could do something as ridiculous as this at this time.”

With an annual budget of $2.2 billion in 2018, the agency is already underfunded, Yates said. The U.K. has committed an additional 65 million pounds ($81 million) to the organization.

The UN agency performs tasks like sending fact-finding missions to countries to evaluate their responses to outbreaks, sharing information like the virus’s genome and helping poor countries prepare. It’s also coordinating international trials of experimental treatments including hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug Trump has backed against the virus.

“Trump himself was tweeting support to China in mid-January, taking their information at face value,” Yates said. “Everyone knows full well that the U.S. has other sources of information on China than the WHO.”

Tedros had previously commended Trump for his handling of the crisis, including a tweet on March 24 that said he was doing a great job. Tedros said earlier this month that the U.S. and China should work together to show “honest leadership” or risk transforming the pandemic into a bigger crisis.

The WHO “will no doubt” have areas for improvement when member states eventually review the organization’s performance, Tedros said. “But for now our focus, my focus, is on stopping this virus and saving lives.”

The U.S. decision to suspend funding sparked an outcry around the world. Richard Horton, the editor of the Lancet medical journal, wrote in a tweet that “every scientist, every citizen must resist and rebel against this appalling betrayal of global solidarity.”

‘Different Tack’

While Trump criticized the WHO for advising against travel restrictions, the agency was fulfilling its mandate of making sure that any such measures are justified on public health grounds, said Mike Ryan, the WHO’s head of health emergencies. As the virus emerged in China, it wasn’t clear how easily the coronavirus spreads between humans, he said.

As for the president’s charge that the WHO acted too slowly, Ryan said there are millions of cases of atypical pneumonia around the world each year, so it was remarkable that the cluster of cases in Wuhan, China, was identified. The agency warned countries about the outbreak on Jan. 5 and issued guidance for health workers on Jan. 10 and 11.

The WHO has performed well in some areas since the virus emerged in China, according to Thomas Bollyky, director of the global health program at the Council on Foreign Relations, who cited its work in assisting low and middle-income countries.

Still, the agency “might have taken a different tack” instead of praising China early on, he said. The WHO has also faced scrutiny for its response to the past two Ebola outbreaks.

“The one thing that should be illustrated to everyone by this pandemic is that the system does need to work better,” Bollyky said in a phone interview. “It puts us all at a great risk when it doesn’t.”

Countries will need to defer more to the WHO and other international groups to improve the global response to outbreaks, even when the recommendations are at odds with the wishes of individual member states, he said.

It’s unclear when any halt in U.S. payments would take effect or how much authority Trump has to suspend disbursements, which are authorized by Congress. The U.S. has committed $893 million to the WHO’s operations during its current two-year funding cycle, according to the organization. Administration officials signaled the suspension would be for 60 days.

Exchanging Information

Other countries have started to weigh in. The spokeswoman for Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the WHO “must be supported and strengthened, and not weakened in this current crisis.”

David Heymann, an infectious disease authority and former WHO official, said the agency’s strength is bringing together experts from around the world to exchange information, review scientific evidence and make recommendations.

“As an American, I’ll be very disappointed if the U.S. government doesn’t continue to show leadership in global public health as it has in the past,” he said. “This has been an example that many other countries have followed.”

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