President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently halt funding to the WHO if it did not commit to “substantive” improvements within 30 days. In this context discuss the US-WHO relationship in the past and, what could change between them?
The Trump administration’s ongoing tirade against the World Health Organization is escalating due to the body’s alarming dependence on China.
The USA is accusing WHO for it’s the repeated mis-steps in responding to the pandemic that have been extremely costly for the world.
It has threatened to permanently halt funding to the WHO if it did not commit to “substantive” improvements within 30 days.
USA has previously accused the body of promoting China’s “disinformation” campaign over the outbreak.
The WHO is funded by a large number of countries, philanthropic organisations, United Nations organisations etc.
According to WHO, voluntary donations from member states (such as the US) contribute 35.41 per cent, assessed contributions are 15.66 per cent, philanthropic organisations account for 9.33 per cent, UN organisations contribute about 8.1 per cent; the rest comes from myriad sources.
The US contributes almost 15 per cent of the WHO’s total funding and almost 31 per cent of the member states’ donations, the largest chunk in both cases.
India contributes 1 per cent of member states’ donations. Countries decide how much they pay and may also choose not to.
For the WHO, the loss of about 15 per cent of its total funding is bound to have an impact the world over.
However, unless other countries do the same as the US, the move may not severely hamstring WHO operations.
The US, a founding member of the WHO as well as its biggest donor, has long exercised a strong influence over the organisation.
