Opinion

Trump’s funding cut to WHO sets a dangerous precedent

The comments section is closed.

4 Comments
  • Manuel Correia says:

    My believe is that WHO and UN are the most corrupted organizations in the world, they wast billions of dollars that could used to end the poverty in lots of Country in the World. Africa continent is in worse shape today that was in sixty more corruption today. Look at Angola, Eduardo dos Santos presidente for thirty years now lives in Barcelona in 8 million dollars house. The biggest problem in the world today is we still don’t teach people two basics in life. LOVE TO BE LOVED and RESPECTED TO BE RESPECTED. WE HAVE TO TEACH THE ARMY TO BE DISCIPLINED SO THEY WEAN THE WAR.

  • Rob Murray says:

    On October 24, 2017, the United Nations [UN] Special Rapporteur [SR] on the right to health, Dainius Pūras, presented his report on corruption to the UN General Assembly. He told his audience, “In many countries, health is among the most corrupt sectors; this has significant implications for equality and non-discrimination “… He noted some are related to the global pharmaceutical industry and others from “institutional corruption” and emphasized the “normalization” of corruption in healthcare which includes practices undermining medical ethics, social justice, transparency and effective healthcare provision, as well as illegal acts. Many researchers and scholars support the SR’s findings. We have seen this extend to the WHO but that should mean we should remain and fix the problems.

  • Paul Ranalli says:

    The current problem with the WHO is not funding. It is corruption, lack of transparency, and incompetence.

    Its current head, Tedros, who is not a physician, displayed this behaviour in mismanaging, then covering up, infectious outbreaks in his native country. He became China’s favourite to head the WHO, which served them well when they abetted China’s cover-up of the virus outbreak origin, and the high person-to person transmissibility of COVID-19, for weeks, which then caught the rest of the world unprepared, with deadly results. Now that this has been exposed, they are helping China tamp down any critical review. Their medical lead, Dr. Bruce Aylward, refuses to come back to Canada to brief our parliamentary committee. Why?

    This is not an agency, as currently constructed, that gives the world confidence, and thus does not deserve ongoing funding without agreeing to outside accountability. As the Five Eyes investigation becomes better known, the WHO must submit to uncomfortable questions. This is how science, and its management, moves forward from the current debacle.

  • rickk says:

    “This is not to say the WHO is not without fault. Over the past few decades, it has made questionable decisions and has had monumental failures.”

    So ‘good money after bad’ is your proposition? The WHO is now political – not health. The USA funds the WHO to an amount of nearly double than all the rest of the contributing nations combined. Trump is a lot of bluster and likely the US contribution will not go to zero. The WHO made its bed and perhaps the rest can step up their game – case in point – preferential messaging to the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party over this covid situation is nothing short of egregious. This planetary shut-down is the direct result of the WHO’s mishandling and blatant false and dishonest reporting. Good for Trump – fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice – I cut your funding

Authors

Anne Rucchetto

Contributor

Anne Rucchetto is a writer and researcher interested in structural forces of power and oppression, as well as their manifestation across health-care settings. She has been published widely as a journalist and academic.

Anjum Sultana

Contributor

Anjum Sultana is a Board Member with Regent Park Community Health Centre.

Alia Januwalla

Contributor

Alia Januwalla studied at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Eden Hagos

Contributor

Eden Hagos studied at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Dara Gordon

Contributor

Dara Gordon studied at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Republish this article

Republish this article on your website under the creative commons licence.

Learn more