POLITICO: G7 leaders chide Trump over WHO funding stop
“Several world leaders have rebuked Donald Trump for his decision to stop funding the World Health Organization, telling the president that multilateral cooperation is essential to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Leaders of the G7 — which consists of the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and Canada, plus the European Union — met via videoconference on Thursday to coordinate national responses to the disease. Yet Trump’s sudden announcement Tuesday night that he would halt funding to the WHO overshadowed the discussion…” (Von Der Burchard/Cooper, 4/16).

Reuters: G7 seeks WHO review and reform, commits to coordinated virus response: White House
“Leaders from the G7 group of industrialized nations on Thursday called for a review and reform process at the World Health Organization and agreed to ensure a coordinated global approach to the coronavirus pandemic, the White House said. ‘G7 leaders agreed to remain committed to taking every necessary measure to ensure a strong and coordinated global response to this health crisis and the associated humanitarian and economic calamity and to launch a strong and sustainable recovery,’ the White House said in a statement after a video conference call between the leaders…” (Mason/Holland, 4/16).

AP: Trump faces global resistance to US plan to cut WHO funding (Superville, 4/16).

Bloomberg: Merkel Defends WHO in G-7 Leaders Call After Trump’s Attack (Wingrove/Donahue, 4/16).

The Guardian: G7 backing for WHO leaves Trump isolated at virtual summit (Wintour, 4/16).

Reuters: Japan PM Abe backs WHO on coronavirus, in contrast with ally Trump (Kajimoto/Mallard, 4/17).

Reuters: Germany’s Merkel backs WHO as calls for more coronavirus cooperation (Chambers, 4/16).

Reuters: China will have to answer hard questions on coronavirus outbreak: U.K. foreign minister (Bruce et al., 4/16).

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Bloomberg: Trump’s WHO Funding Cut May Prevent Africa From Being Polio-Free (Ibukun/Alake, 4/16).

CNN: The U.S. is halting funding to the WHO. What does this actually mean? (Yeung, 4/16).

The Economist: The World Health Organization is under fire from America’s president (4/16).

The Hill: Top Republicans call on Trump to fund WHO pending director-general’s resignation (Brufke, 4/16).

Newsweek: China Hawks In Congress Want Beijing To Pay Compensation For Coronavirus Pandemic (Walker, 4/16).

New York Times: WHO, Now Trump’s Scapegoat, Warned About Coronavirus Early and Often (Pérez-Peña et al., 4/16).

PRI: Trump’s WHO funding cut harms ‘fragile’ health systems, organization’s Africa head says (4/16).

Reuters: Backing Trump, U.S. Republicans call for WHO chief to resign (Zengerle, 4/16).

Reuters: Pompeo urges full transparency on coronavirus in call with top Chinese diplomat, U.S. says (Pamuk/Bronnstrum, 4/15).

Vox: 12 experts on how the U.S. should hold China accountable for the coronavirus (Ward, 4/16).

Washington Examiner: Lindsey Graham: ‘I would double’ WHO funding if Bill Gates led the organization (Brest, 4/16).

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AP: Virus pandemic collides with Trump’s disdain for foreign aid
“President Donald Trump’s well-known disdain for foreign aid is colliding with the imperatives of fighting the coronavirus pandemic, as his administration boasts about America’s generosity for countries in dire need while still generating confusion and anger on the global stage…” (Lee/Weissenstein, 4/17).

New York Times: U.S. Sends Funds to Needy Nations to Fight the Virus, but Maybe Not for Masks
“The Trump administration is considering new rules that would limit how American humanitarian aid is used to buy masks, plastic gloves and other protective medical equipment to combat the coronavirus in some of the world’s neediest nations. Instead, the administration is working to secure those supplies for Americans first as the pandemic sweeps around the world. The internal debate is the latest example of a global race for limited medical gear that puts countries that are poor, are unstable, or have deficient health systems at a deadly disadvantage…” (Jakes/Kanno-Youngs, 4/16).

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NPR: The Global Leaders Who Have Been Effective During The Coronavirus
“The coronavirus pandemic has tested leaders around the world. How they respond to the crisis impacts the health and well-being of their people, but also these leaders’ support. Many of them have gotten a boost in the opinion polls even while, in democracies at least, coming under fierce criticism for their handling of the crisis. Other leaders, though, seem to have managed to capture something more intangible than just better poll numbers. They’ve demonstrated empathy with their voters, showing unexpected strength or wisdom or capturing the national mood. We’ve got three correspondents with us to talk about this aspect of leadership in crisis…” (McCarthy et al., 4/16).

Washington Post: Trump’s pandemic response underscores the crisis in global politics
“…Trump’s dramatic declaration this week that he would halt critical funding to the WHO in the middle of the pandemic is proving unpopular. It puts him at odds with his own administration’s officials in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Department — major agencies that recognize the importance of supporting and influencing the WHO in a time of shared crisis. And it underscores, yet again, Trump’s penchant for punishing or weakening multilateral, international institutions, even when it’s unclear what the United States gains from such disruption…” (Tharoor, 4/17).

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Devex: Aid levels inch upward but COVID-19 looms
“Official development assistance increased slightly last year, according to initial data from OECD. But with many donors in ‘domestic meltdown,’ next year looks uncertain…” (Cornish/Chadwick, 4/17).

The Guardian: Donor countries urged to step up spending as national goals go unmet
“The world’s major powers have failed to make progress towards meeting their commitments on aid spending, according to new data, prompting calls for countries to step up in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) update on spending in 2019, published on Thursday, showed aid contributions by its forum of the largest donors were less than half the targeted 0.7% of their gross national income. Only five countries, including the U.K., met or surpassed the 0.7% spending goal…” (Ahmed, 4/17).

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Devex: G20, IMF deliver on debt relief, but more is needed, experts say
“Debt relief is critical for the world’s lowest-income countries, and while steps by the G20 and the International Monetary Fund this week are a move in the right direction, they won’t be enough, according to development experts. Low-income countries cannot make the kind of fiscal and monetary policy moves that the wealthiest countries can, but they still need fast access to additional capital to respond to both the health and economic crisis resulting from COVID-19…” (Saldinger, 4/17).

Additional coverage of G20 and IMF debt relief plans is available from Financial Times, POLITICO, and Reuters (2) (3).

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AFRICA

Bloomberg: Virus Seen Killing 300,000 in Africa, Even With Interventions (Soto, 4/17).

New Humanitarian: Coronavirus exposes Africa’s oxygen problem (Zhu, 4/16).

POLITICO: Coronavirus ends China’s honeymoon in Africa (Marks, 4/16).

ASIA

NPR: In Vietnam, There Have Been Fewer Than 300 COVID-19 Cases And No Deaths. Here’s Why (Sullivan, 4/16).

PRI: Rohingya women are traditionally kept out of leadership roles. Will the coronavirus change that? (Shenoy, 4/16).

Quartz: Why does India have so few Covid-19 cases and deaths? (Malani et al., 4/16).

Reuters: In Singapore, migrant coronavirus cases highlight containment weak link (Geddie et al., 4/15).

Reuters: China raises total coronavirus death toll to 4,632 after Wuhan data review (Liu/Stanway, 4/17).

EUROPE

Reuters: U.K. was too slow on coronavirus and 40,000 could die, professor says (Faulconbridge et al., 4/17).

Reuters: Europe coronavirus cases reach almost 1 million, coming weeks ‘critical’: WHO (Kelland, 4/16).

LATIN AMERICA

Foreign Policy: Bolsonaro Fires Brazil’s Health Minister as Infections Grow (Quinn, 4/17).

New York Times: To Beat the Virus, Colombia Tries Separating Men and Women (Turkewitz/González, 4/15).

Reuters: In run-down Caracas institute, Venezuela’s coronavirus testing falters (Berwick et al., 4/17).

Washington Post: Peru took early, aggressive measures against the coronavirus. It’s still suffering one of Latin America’s largest outbreaks (Tegel, 4/17).

MIDDLE EAST

The Guardian: Pandemic raises fears over welfare of domestic workers in Lebanon (Chulov, 4/16).

Reuters: Iran coronavirus death toll up as official warns of autumn rise in cases (Dehghanpisheh/Hafezi, 4/16).

Reuters: U.S. gives $5 million to Palestinians amid pandemic, after years of aid cuts (Ramallah/Ayyub, 4/16).

U.N. News: Yemen can’t survive war on two fronts, top U.N. envoy tells Security Council, as coronavirus outbreak looms (4/16).

NORTH AMERICA

The Lancet: COVID-19 exacerbating inequalities in the U.S. (van Dorn et al., 4/18).

STAT: Influential Covid-19 model uses flawed methods and shouldn’t guide U.S. policies, critics say (Begley/Branswell, 4/17).

STAT: Trump outlines ‘phases’ for reopening states once coronavirus cases begin to decline (Facher, 4/16).

Washington Post: Covid-19 is rapidly becoming America’s leading cause of death (Keating/Esteban, 4/16).

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AP: Poorer nations face bigger risk in easing virus restrictions (Karam et al., 4/17).

AP: ‘Tip of the iceberg:’ Nations struggle to count virus toll (Parra et al., 4/17).

Reuters: Africa may see millions of coronavirus cases, tentative WHO forecast shows (Miriri/Houreld, 4/16).

U.N. News: Coronavirus pandemic threatens crises-ravaged communities, U.N. appeals for global support (4/16).

U.N. News: COVID-19 storm strengthens across Europe, controlling transmission everywhere, essential: Tedros (4/16).

Vox: No country has beaten the coronavirus yet (Irfan, 4/16).

Wall Street Journal: WHO Chief Warns About Easing Social Distancing Too Early Amid Coronavirus Pandemic (Alpert/Roland, 4/16).

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AP: Draft U.N. resolution urges global access to COVID-19 material
“…The proposed resolution obtained by the Associated Press requests Secretary-General António Guterres to work with the World Health Organization and recommend options to ensure timely and equitable access to testing, medical supplies, drugs, and future coronavirus vaccines for all in need, especially in developing countries. The measure, drafted by Mexico and co-sponsored by about 75 countries, encourages all countries to work in partnership to increase research and funding for vaccines and medicine, and to strengthen international scientific cooperation to combat the coronavirus…” (Lederer, 4/17).

STAT: European Union urges the World Health Assembly to pursue a voluntary pool for Covid-19 products
“In a significant development, the European Union has proposed a draft resolution urging the World Health Assembly to voluntarily pool intellectual property as part of a plan to ensure ‘equitable access’ to vaccines, treatments, and other medical products for combating the pandemic. The move, which anticipates the WHA will hold a virtual session next month, comes after the World Health Organization Director General last week endorsed the idea of creating such a pool to collect patent rights, regulatory test data, and other information that could be shared for developing drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics…” (Silverman, 4/16).

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The Telegraph: Coronavirus disruption may halt access to family planning for 49 million women, analysis reveals
“At least 49 million women and girls across the globe may no longer be able to access family planning as services are disrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, new analysis has revealed. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization, the strain placed on already overstretched health systems will have a ‘devastating’ impact on access to contraception and abortion services — with potentially deadly consequences…” (Newey, 6/17).

Additional coverage of the Guttmacher analysis is available from Al Jazeera, Reuters, and VOA.

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AP: U.N. report: Pandemic turning into a ‘child-rights crisis’
“Children have so far largely escaped the most severe symptoms of COVID-19 but the social and economic impact ‘is potentially catastrophic for millions of children,’ according to a U.N. report launched Thursday. It said COVID-19 is turning into ‘a broader child-rights crisis.’ … Those badly hit will be children living in slums, refugee and displacement camps, conflict zones, institutions, and detention centers, and youngsters with disabilities, the report said. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned in a video statement launching the report that the coronavirus pandemic is putting many of the world’s children ‘in jeopardy’ and urged families everywhere and leaders at all levels to ‘protect our children’…” (Lederer, 4/17).

Additional coverage of the U.N. report is available from Reuters and U.N. News.

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Devex: Gavi grapples with replenishment at crucial moment for vaccine funding
“Gavi is grappling with how to handle its upcoming replenishment amid the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic, as experts call for it to be delayed. The vaccine alliance’s replenishment conference is still scheduled for early June in the U.K., but with the country in the grip of a severe outbreak and other development gatherings canceled, it seems unlikely to go ahead as planned…” (Worley, 4/16).

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Washington Post: Joe Biden pitches himself as the ‘been there, done that’ candidate as economic and health crises dominate the presidential race
“…A review of the eight years Biden spent in the Obama administration, and interviews with nearly a dozen of those involved, showed that in moments of crisis Biden was relentless and enmeshed in the details. He could be sober and empathetic, but also prone to verbal miscues that other officials had to quickly clarify. He was less the originator of policies than the hammer to drive them into being. The cauldron of those crises formed Biden’s outlook on the current ones. … More than anything, Biden is offering himself as the antithesis to Trump, a candidate who as president would delve into the details, defer to the experts, and wrestle the full weight of the government to pursue his goals…” (Viser/Wootson, 4/16).

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Barron’s: Open Society Foundations Pledges $130 Million to Covid-19 Response (Block, 4/16).
New York Times: George Soros’s Foundation Pledges $130 Million in Coronavirus Relief (Goldmacher, 4/16).

CNBC: Coronavirus: WHO says changing climates and crowded cities drive disease outbreaks (Lovelace, 4/15).

Devex: U.K. offers little detail on how aid-funded COVID-19 vaccine will be accessible to all (Worley, 4/17).

The Hill: Scientists learning about coronavirus at unprecedented speed (Wilson, 4/16).

HuffPost: We’re Going Backwards With Coronavirus Response, Obama ‘Ebola Czar’ Warns (Moran, 4/17).

New York Times: Bill Gates, at Odds With Trump on Virus, Becomes a Right-Wing Target (Wakabayashi et al., 4/17).

Quartz: Fossil fuels are propelling Covid-19 — and the next pandemic (Barak, 4/16).

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The Atlantic: The WHO Shouldn’t Be a Plaything for Great Powers
Zeynep Tufekci, associate professor at the University of North Carolina and faculty associate at the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society (4/16).

The Conversation: Canada must act globally in response to the coronavirus
John D. Cameron, associate professor in the Department of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University (4/16).

The Conversation: Coronavirus risks forcing South Africa to make health trade-offs it can ill afford
Karen Hofman, professor and program director, and Susan Goldstein, associate professor, both at the SAMRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science — PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons in Systems Strengthening South Africa) at the University of the Witwatersrand (4/16).

Devex: Opinion: With COVID-19, we must learn from the fight against Ebola
Samy Ahmar, head of health at Save the Children U.K. (4/16).

Foreign Policy: How the Economy Will Look After the Coronavirus Pandemic
Joseph E. Stiglitz, professor of economics at Columbia University and winner of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics, and colleagues (4/15).

Foreign Policy: No, the Coronavirus Will Not Change the Global Order
Joseph S. Nye Jr., university distinguished service professor at Harvard University (4/16).

The Hill: What do we have to lose with hydroxychloroquine? Evidence that might save lives
Jim Lavery, professor and Conrad N. Hilton chair in global health ethics at the Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, and faculty at the Center for Ethics at Emory University (4/16).

The Lancet: COVID-19 in the USA: a question of time
Editorial Board (4/18).

Los Angeles Times: Editorial: For all its faults, we need WHO now more than ever
Editorial Board (4/16).

New York Times: ‘God Created the Virus. But Now He Has Lost Control’
Mohammed Hanif, novelist (4/17).

New York Times: The Singapore Warning
David Leonhardt, founding editor of the Upshot and opinion columnist at the New York Times (4/16).

Project Syndicate: Hungary’s Disease Dictator
László Bruszt, professor of political science at Central European University (4/16).

Project Syndicate: Latin America Confronts the Coronavirus
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, president of Brazil from 1995 to 2002 and member of the editorial board of Americas Quarterly and the Global Commission on Drug Policy, and colleagues (4/16).

Washington Post: Prepare for collateral damage as devastating as the virus
Editorial Board (4/16).

Washington Post: Even as rich countries reel, it’s imperative to help emerging markets
Editorial Board (4/16).

Washington Post: How can African governments persuade citizens to follow coronavirus guidelines?
Allison Namias Grossman, PhD candidate in political science at the University of California, Berkeley (4/17).

Washington Post: Trudeau looks a lot like Trump when it comes to the coronavirus
J.J. McCullough, contributing columnist for the Global Opinions section of the Washington Post (4/16).

Washington Post: The WHO doesn’t only have a China problem — it has a dictator problem
Josh Rogin, columnist for the Global Opinions section of the Washington Post and political analyst at CNN (4/16).

Washington Post: Trump wants to review the WHO’s actions. These are its key roles and limitations
Jeremy Youde, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and global health politics researcher at the University of Minnesota Duluth (4/16).

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The Conversation: Africa can and must do more to support nurses and midwives
Pauline Bakibinga, associate research scientist with the African Population and Health Research Center (4/14).

Devex: Opinion: 4 lessons from polio eradication to reduce maternal mortality
Adaeze Oreh, family physician at the Department of Hospital Services in the Federal Ministry of Health in Nigeria (4/10).

Devex: Opinion: Advancing universal health care through a new global immunization agenda
Nanette Cocero, global president of Pfizer Vaccines (4/13).

Foreign Affairs: Trials and Tribulations
Jeffrey D. Sachs, university professor at Columbia University and director of Columbia’s Center for Sustainable Development (4/13).

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American Jewish World Service: Leading Global Jewish Human Rights Organization Denounces Trump’s Decision to Withhold Funding from WHO (4/16).

Council on Foreign Relations: What Does the World Health Organization Do? (4/16).

DevPolicy Blog: Fixing the WHO
Joel Negin, head of school and professor of international health at the University of Sydney School of Public Health (4/17).

Health Affairs Blog: Defunding WHO: Why The President’s Decision Makes America Less Safe
Ashish K. Jha, K.T. Li Professor of Global Health at Harvard University, dean for global strategy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute (4/16).

PLOS Blogs’ “Speaking of Medicine”: We need to support the WHO, not stop its funding in the middle of a pandemic
Adya Misra, senior editor at PLOS Medicine (4/16).

Think Global Health: COVID-19 Is Smoke and Mirrors — What Matters Is International Law
Ilona Kickbusch, member of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) and founding director and chair of the advisory group of the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Geneva (4/15).

Treatment Action Group: Global Health and Human Rights Organizations Denounce Trump Administration Decision to Pull Commitments to WHO during COVID-19 Crisis (4/16).

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Guttmacher Institute: Estimates of the Potential Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sexual and Reproductive Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Taylor Riley, senior research associate with the Guttmacher Institute, and colleagues (4/16).

Guttmacher Institute: Crisis on the Horizon: Devastating Losses for Global Reproductive Health Are Possible Due to COVID-19
Zara Ahmed, associate director of federal issues, and Lauren Cross, senior U.S. communications manager, both with the Guttmacher Institute (4/16).

The Lancet: COVID-19 Resource Centre (April 2020).

ONE: The triple whammy of threats facing Africa — and how to stop it
Sara Harcourt, senior policy director in development finance at ONE (4/16).

Science Speaks: COVID-19: The world faces a common enemy
Bertha Serwa Ayi, adjunct assistant professor of medicine at the Kansas Health Sciences Center and adjunct lecturer at the University of Development Studies in Ghana (4/16).

Think Global Health: Africa and Coronavirus — Will Lockdowns Work?
Salma Abdalla, physician, research fellow at Boston University School of Public Health, and lead project director for the Rockefeller Foundation–Boston University 3-D Commission, and Sandro Galea, physician, epidemiologist, author, and dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health (4/15).

UNAIDS: Congregational health messages on COVID-19 for religious leaders (4/16).

UNAIDS: Keeping HIV treatment available in Pakistan during COVID-19 (4/15).

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Center for Global Development: How Does a List on a Napkin Become a New Federal Agency? Reflections on the Creation of the DFC
Todd Moss, non-resident fellow at CGD, discusses the creation of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) (4/16).

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Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: Addressing Gender Inequalities in Tuberculosis: A Conversation with Dr. Zolelwa Sifumba
Lanice Williams, advocacy and partnerships manager at Friends of the Global Fight, interviews Zolelwa Sifumba, a doctor in Cape Town, South Africa, and one of the Global Fund’s Faces of the Fight, about gender inequalities in TB. Sifumba discusses “her unique journey overcoming TB, the various challenges she faced, and how the global health community can do more to combat TB as a widespread threat to women worldwide” (4/16).

World Economic Forum: 7 out of 10 global health leaders are men: Study
Emma Charlton, senior writer for formative content at the World Economic Forum, discusses gender disparities in the global health workforce, highlighting findings from the Global Health 50/50 report. The report found that more than 70% of leaders in the global health sector are men, and while women account for 70% of workers in the sector, only 5% hold leadership positions. Charlton also discusses findings from the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020, which shows gender gaps in different countries (4/16).

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White House: 4/16/20: Members of the Coronavirus Task Force Hold a Press Briefing
In this press briefing held Thursday, President Trump, Vice President Pence, and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force discuss developments regarding the U.S. response to COVID-19 (4/16).

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U.S. Department of State: Update: The United States is Continuing to Lead the Humanitarian and Health Assistance Response to COVID-19
This fact sheet provides an update on U.S. foreign assistance to address COVID-19 globally (4/16).

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KFF: The U.S. Government and the World Health Organization
This fact sheet provides information about the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. government funding and engagement with WHO. In April, the White House announced it would be suspending financial support for WHO pending a review of the organization’s activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessed contributions from the U.S. to the WHO have ranged from $107 to $119 million over the last decade. The U.S. also has made additional voluntary contributions, ranging from $102 to $401 million per year (4/16).

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KFF: COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker — Updated as of April 17, 2020 (4/17).

Additional KFF COVID-19 resources, including those focused on the response and impact within the U.S., are available here. KFF’s new blog series “Coronavirus Policy Watch” is available here.

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