China, Other Nations Condemn Trump’s Move To Suspend WHO Funding; Congressional Democrats Pledge Action; Gates Foundation Increases Pledge For Pandemic Response

Bloomberg: China Blasts Trump’s Move to Pull WHO Funding, Pledges Support
“China criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to temporarily halt funding to the World Health Organization and pledged to support the global health body…” (4/15).

Devex: Congress considers action in response to Trump WHO funding freeze
“Congressional Democrats are exploring how they might respond to protect the World Health Organization from the funding freeze President Donald Trump announced Tuesday, though they will likely face opposition from Republicans who have traditionally been reliable advocates for foreign aid…” (Saldinger, 4/16).

NPR: ‘We Alerted The World’ To Coronavirus On Jan. 5, WHO Says In Response To U.S.
” ‘We regret the decision of the president of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organization,’ WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday in response to President Trump’s plan to stop U.S. money from going to the agency. The U.S. is the top contributor to the WHO, which is leading the fight against the COVID-19 global pandemic…” (Chappell, 4/15).

Reuters: Gates ups pandemic funds to $250 million, says Trump WHO move makes ‘no sense’
“Pulling funding from the World Health Organization (WHO) is a dangerous and nonsensical move when the world is facing the health crisis brought by the COVID-19 disease pandemic, Melinda Gates said on Wednesday. Announcing an extra $150 million of funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help speed the development of treatments, vaccines, and public health measures to tackle the new coronavirus outbreak, Melinda Gates said the WHO was ‘exactly the organization that can deal with this pandemic’…” (Kelland, 4/15).

Washington Post: Congressional Democrats allege Trump’s move to defund World Health Organization is illegal
“Congressional Democrats alleged Wednesday it would be illegal for President Trump to withhold money from the World Health Organization, igniting a dispute that echoed the impeachment showdown over Trump’s delay of security assistance to Ukraine…” (Werner, 4/15).

Additional coverage of reaction to Trump’s suspension of WHO funding is available from ABC, Business Insider, Financial Times (2), Fox News, Globe and Mail, The Guardian, The Hill (2), NPR, POLITICO, Reuters, STAT (2), and VOA.

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

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