By Elishya Perera
WASHINGTON (CU)_The United States will pay more than $200 million in membership fee it owes to the World Health Organisation (WHO) by the end of this month, in a move to reaffirm the Biden administration’s commitment to international cooperation on public health.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the UN Security Council that this would be “a key step forward”, in fulfilling the United States’ financial obligations as a member of the WHO, as well as a reflection of the country’s renewed commitment to ensure the public health agency has the support it needs to lead the global response to the pandemic.
“The United States will work with our partners across the globe to expand manufacturing and distribution capacity and to increase access, including marginalized populations,” he said.
Blinken further noted that the ongoing expert investigation about the origins of this pandemic, must be an independent one, “based on science and facts and free from interference”, and he called on his counterparts to share any relevant information available on the matter.
“To better understand this pandemic and prepare for the next one, all countries must make available all data from the earliest days of the outbreak,” he said.
In April last year, amid the Coronavirus pandemic, former US President Donald Trump suspended US funding to the WHO, saying the agency “severely mismanaged and covered up” the spread of the virus. A month later, the then-President announced his intentions to withdraw the United States from the health agency, claiming that the WHO misused its funding and maintains a cosy relationship with China.
“China has total control over the World Health Organization, despite only paying $40 million per year compared to what the United States has been paying, which is approximately $450 million a year,” he said.
However, in October, following the Trump administration’s submission of its notice to withdraw from the WHO, the agency’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he hoped the United States would reconsider its decision, adding that “the problem is not about the money”.
“It’s not the financing that’s the issue. It’s actually the relationship with the US that’s more important and its leadership abroad,” Ghebreyesus said.
Nevertheless, newly-elected President Joe Biden, during his presidential campaign, promised to re-join the WHO, and as one of his first acts as president, he signed an executive order to rescind President Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the health agency.
