President Trump is drawing flak from all sides for halting the US funding for the World Health Organisation. Trump did so on impulse, and on a temporary basis, pending an investigation into his earlier charge that the world body was siding with China in relation to the Covid-19 fight. This is the most critical time in recent world history on the health front. With two million people around the globe hit by the pandemic, deaths crossed the line of 1,28,000. The US itself is hit badly, with Covid-related deaths touching 25,000 and the number of the infected being in the range of 600,000. Entire Europe is dire straits. For WHO, the US decision could mean a loss of around $500 million towards funding for global health care for this year.
Trump’s charge against the Geneva-based WHO, in sum, is that it sided with China in hiding the seriousness of Covid-19, and he cites the world body’s recommendation on January 30, at the height of the health crisis in Wuhan, not to effect any travel ban on China. The next day, Trump ignored WHO advisory and imposed a ban on entry of anyone other than US nationals if they spent around 14 days in China. Trump had treated the matter lightly for 13 more days, vis-à-vis domestic precautions, and then declared a national emergency. Notably, WHO had itself stated in January when the world was faced with the Covid threat that it did not see any necessity for treating the situation on an emergency basis. There is little doubt that it erred in this respect. Trump is obviously linking the two; meaning that had WHO taken a serious note initially, he would have followed suit.
The way things turned out for the US, this is bound to boomerang on the President himself in the approaching presidential polls in which he will re-run for the Republicans. A CNN opinion poll this week gave presumed rival Joe Biden of the Democrats an over 10- point lead. Americans are deeply upset as the death and infection tolls climb phenomenally high. Sentiments rule every election. Even those who saw a second term for Trump are now skeptical and downcast. The Covid-19 scenario could be Trump’s undoing. Little wonder then that the president is apparently losing his sense of balance. The result from a funds crunch for WHO at this critical juncture will be most terrible; the US being the largest contributor for the world body’s funds year after year. Hope is that there will be a re-think.