Africa Press-Nigeria :<\/p>\n
The WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, in response to the threat by the U.S. government to halt funding the outfit, said it has done no wrong but only following the creed for which organisation was established in 1945.<\/p>\n
The organisation was established by nations to protect the highest attainable standard of health as one of the fundamental rights of every human being, without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition, he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Ghebreyesus said \u201cthat creed remains our vision today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no time to waste and WHO\u2019s singular focus is on working to serve all people to save lives and stop the COVID-19 pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. president, Donald Trump, on Tuesday said he was freezing the funding of WHO pending a review into the UN health agency\u2019s \u201crole in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus\u201d, adding: \u201ceverybody knows what\u2019s going on there\u201d.<\/p>\n
The United States is the biggest individual contributor to the WHO\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n
U.S., long time ally<\/p>\n
Mr Ghebreyesus, during the virtual briefing in Geneva, said the U.S. has been a longstanding and generous friend to WHO, and that they hope it will continue to be so.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organisation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He said with the support from the people and its government, \u201cWHO works to improve the health of many of the world\u2019s poorest and most vulnerable people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Ghebreyesus said that WHO is not only fighting COVID-19 but also working to address polio, measles, malaria, Ebola, HIV, tuberculosis, malnutrition, cancer, diabetes, mental health and many other diseases and conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also work with countries to strengthen health systems and improve access to life-saving health services,\u201d he said. \u201cCOVID-19 does not discriminate between rich nations and poor, large nations and small. It does not discriminate between nationalities, ethnicities or ideologies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Reviewing impact of Trump\u2019s decision\u2019<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the WHO boss said the UN health agency is reviewing the impact of the withdrawal of U.S. funding.<\/p>\n
He said the agency will work with its partners \u201cto fill any financial gaps we face and to ensure our work continues uninterrupted\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the agency is committed to public health, science and to serving all the people of the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur mission and mandate are to work with all nations equally, without regard to the size of their populations or economies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn due course, WHO\u2019s performance in tackling this pandemic will be reviewed by WHO\u2019s Member States and the independent bodies that are in place to ensure transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is part of the usual process put in place by our Member States. No doubt, areas for improvement will be identified and there will be lessons for all of us to learn.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut for now, our focus \u2013 my focus \u2013 is on stopping this virus and saving lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Africa Press-Nigeria : The WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, in response to the threat by the U.S. government to halt funding the outfit, said it has done no wrong but only following the creed for which organisation was established in 1945. The organisation was established by nations to protect the highest attainable standard of health as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":21212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[332,728],"class_list":["post-23980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-un","tag-who"],"yoast_head":"\n