Trump withdrawing WHO funding, I can kind of see his point.....

[MrsTumbletap]

So Trump has announced that he is withdrawing the 400-500 million dollars America gives to the WHO after the way they have dealt with the outbreak and how they didn't investigate China's statements about it not being spread person to person.

Now I am not a Trump fan, I think the man is intolerable, but........I can see his point here. The WHO have not handled this well, they didn't investigate how it spread, they said international travel was fine. Which has now affected the whole world.

If every country used their WHO donations and poured it in to their health services at this urgent time, it would make more sense wouldn't it?

What are the WHO actually doing right now? Countries are dealing with it on their own, why do we need a collective body of people to make decisions that need billions? Google isn't showing an answer, the WHO website doesn't show what they are doing right now.

[buttermilkwaffles]

mobile.twitter.com/amymaxmen/status/1250195069547634689

mobile.twitter.com/amymaxmen/status/1250188673573769216

[Dubbadubbadumdum]

If you, and Trump, want to blame anyone, blame China. They are the ones who withheld information from the WHO and the wider world.

[Kokeshi123]

I am furious with the CCP and the WHO, but I don't think withholding funds right now is a good idea. We need to keep a steady hand on the rudder and the WHO-for all their faults-does have plenty of good people who are working away doing unexciting but important things like dealing with TB, childhood vaccines and so on.

[PicsInRed]

The WHO, like the League of Nations, needs disbanding and replacement.

Their sole concern here was their relationship with China (look at the WHO Head's own relstionship with China) and they are an absolute disgrace.

If China wants to fund them, on you go then.

[LangClegsInSpace]

It's a pandemic, we need a global response.

UK gives WHO just over £17 million. This compares with our NHS budget of £140.4 billion. 'Pouring' that £17 million into our own health care service would be like pouring a teacup into the sea.

WHO does a helluva lot on a tiny shoestring budget. They can't make any country do anything, they depend entirely on diplomacy and good will.

This article explains the current fix they are in:

www.theguardian.com/news/2020/apr/10/world-health-organization-who-v-coronavirus-why-it-cant-handle-pandemic

I can thoroughly recommend their press briefings (we call it Dr WHO - The Three Doctors, in our house). Here is Monday's, they cover the timeline of what was happening in January. There's also some really useful advice for how European countries can come out of lockdown, which I wish our government would follow:

(you'll need to turn the sound up)

[Snowflakes1122]

I find myself agreeing with Trump here. I never thought I’d say that!

[chickenyhead]

trump is using this to divert attention away from his own failings. He did nothing in February despite the evidence and WHO advice.

I actually must live on a different planet.

[Nixby3]

What about many African, Asian and South American countries op? They rely on the WHO - what happens to them when the largest contributer freezes funds? Now is not the time for blame games/punishment.

[Nixby3]

*Contributor

[CocoCorona]

Excuse my simple language here but the WHO cannot give orders to countries and tell them what to do. They are not an international body who can make laws and make sure countries follow through. They can only advise and hope countries listen.

Low and middle income countries rely on the WHO for advice, support and sharing of knowledge to combat disease. One prime example is the WHO end TB strategy. Countries with TB problems have modelled their strategies and lab environments in combating the disease, all from freely available resources from WHO. I’m worried lack of funding will affect everyone involved in helping LMICs in the fight against disease and we’ll see a surge in diseases like polio and TB.

The WHO issued statements urging countries to get ready. Not sure what else Trump wanted. He’s a donkey.

[YeOldeTrout]

Imagine how much worse things would be if WHO hadn't encouraged China to reveal as much as it has.

[Bluntness100]

I think the who has its place, and it’s either fund them or find an alternate. I don’t agree with simply stopping funding which smacks of a punitive knee jerk reaction and not any form of strategic plan for the good of global health.

Suspect he’s using it as a negotiating tactic with them. He wants a resignation and he will fund again when he gets it.

[FascinatingCarrot]

trump is using this to divert attention away from his own failings. He did nothing in February despite the evidence and WHO advice.

I actually must live on a different planet.
This. The man scares the shit out of me. He wants to get back to business - this is diversion tactics to start that process and from his own conduct. Taking away this vitally important funding is a fuck you to us all - especially the countries who need the WHO more than we do.. No I dont see his point, I see a dangerous meglomaniac who only thinks of power and money.

[SinisterBumFacedCat]

No it’s a distraction on Trumps part and a pretty transparent one at that. Won’t stop the dangerous bastard getting re elected. He really needs to concentrate on his own country with the mile long queues for food banks in some states. But no he’s furiously looking for someone to (fire) blame.

[headhurtstoomuch]

For those agreeing with Trump this might be useful reading:

(Reuters) - Several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, the Trump administration eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing intended to help detect disease outbreaks in China.

www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN21910S

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Covid isn't the only global threat. WHO coordinated the Ebola response and while it was imperfect, it saved countless lives. Without WHO we would not have known about Covid until it was striking in multiple countries. They gave us a head start, which we squandered.

Yes they make mistakes, yes, sometimes they seem to give into politics, but they are the best we have and to withdraw support is a frightening and stupid response.

[EmMac7]

Early on in this shitstorm I used to watch the WHO press conferences. It was clear they did not consider this disease a particularly serious threat. The Irish fellow — Mike someone — seemed to be irritated that they had to talk about COVID-19 at all when there was an Ebola outbreak still ongoing.

Trump’s actions are pure deflection, no doubt. But the WHO is a failed institution. It is in need of being reformed and given more scope/power. Unfortunately in an increasingly nationalistic world this is unlikely.

There is an excellent piece in The Atlantic on how China deceived the WHO:

www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/world-health-organization

[EC22]

Trump is using this as a deflection from his own failings. He had the information, he failed to act. It’s on his head, not China, not the WHO.

[EmMac7]

www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/world-health-organization-blame-pandemic-coronavirus/609820/

[Krisskrosskiss]

No. Absolutely not. We NEED the WHO and in order for it operate well we need to stop countries including Chinaand the US from trying to manipulate it using threats of withdrawing funding... the WHO is a non profit humanitarian organisation and it can only be as good as its allowed to be by the countries around the world... the WHO should not be the focus here... the focus should be China giving the WHO false or partially incorrect information... it should be on the US for completely ignoring WHO advice... bite hat is happening is these countries are using WHO as a scapegoat so that they themselves do not have to take responsibility for their own actions.
What Trump is doing here is utterly disgusting. Hes an absolute maniac.. but the saddest thing about it is that it will work...people will buy into thinking it's the WHO at fault and not him.. even tho all the evidence shows he ignored them and did his own thing

[Krisskrosskiss]

The WHO and any organisation which replaces it of we did away with it.. will always be at risk from manipulations it relies on funding from governments.. we need to make sure we call it out and criticise it when any government tries to do this... and Trump is currently trying to do it just as China did it... we cannot allow governments to wash their hands of responsibility by deflecting blame like this! They bloody control the WHO so if it fails it is THEM whoa re responsible for not allowing it to do its job properly by feeding it inaccurate info and/or completely ignoring its advice because it's not what they want to hear

[Pollyputthepizzaon]

Not a trump fan but I agree. The USA is a huge donor and they have nowhere near had value for money.

The WHO is biased towards China - probably corruption going on - and the fact the advised AGAINST USA closing its borders to China travel was criminal.

The WHO is partly funded by big pharmaceutical companies, So is not impartial, and is not fit for purpose.

[fallfallfall]

The number of millions the USA gets hosed for (WHO, NATO) boggles my mind. Some countries pay in nothing, some defer their WHO payments for years.
I do understand the poorer nations need help but not sure the current system is right.
It was a pandemic weeks and months before they called it.

[Pollyputthepizzaon]

@ EmMac7 link not working sadly