U.S. President Donald Trump said that Washington would halt funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic (WHO).
"The WHO failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable," he said during a White House briefing.
"Today, I’m instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus," Trump stressed.
"As the organization’s leading sponsor, the United States sees as its duty to insist on full accountability. One of the most dangerous and costly decisions from the WHO was its disastrous decision to oppose travel restrictions from China and other nations," the U.S. leader continued.
According to Trump, at the very start of the outbreak WHO experts relied on the Chinese government’s reports that there were no cases of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan.
He also criticized the global organization for saying that there was no need for travel bans.
According to the U.S. leader, Washington would press for a reform of the World Health Organization and was set to discuss with other nations how the US funds, allocated to this organization, should be used.
