The World Health Organization tries to help its member states, but “politely” declines when their requests are not backed by scientific evidence, or not in line with its mission, according to its leader.
“We say no politely, and you have seen me doing that many times,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states at the opening of its executive board meeting, where United States withdrawal from WHO and its implications were a main concern.
His remarks were in response to the executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump, who blamed WHO’s lack of independence from “inappropriate political influence” as well as its “mishandling” of COVID-19 and other health crises and its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, as reasons for the withdrawal. He also complained of “unfairly onerous payments” to WHO, saying the U.S. pays significantly more in assessed contributions to the U.N. agency than other countries, particularly China, despite the latter’s large population.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
