Dialoguepk

12 May 2020 Author: Ranjan Ray, Monash University While questions are being raised about whether the World Health Organization (WHO) could have acted earlier and faster to halt the rapid spread of COVID-19, the US decision to stop providing WHO funding is a counterproductive overreaction. The decision will likely constrain the WHO’s ability to tackle the pandemic at a time when it needs all the resources and help it can get. While the United Kingdom and other European countries have not followed the United States, there is a danger that the politics of COVID-19 will inflict further damage to the WHO, on which many developing countries rely for support. The United States has now moderated its stance and set new conditions for reform if it is to  resume funding  to the WHO. And the Australian government has  called for  the WHO to be given enhanced powers to avoid pandemic repeats. The United States is the largest donor to the WHO, making up 14.67 per cent of all voluntary contributions.