A UK think tank has urged Boris Johnson to pull funding from the World Health Organization (WHO), following President Donald Trump’s example, over the global organization’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to The Express, the head of lifestyle economic affairs at the Institute of Economic Affairs, Christopher Snowdon, hinted at WHO’s lackluster response to the outbreak, peddling a dangerous narrative and nestling up to China at the initial phase.
He said:
“The coronavirus pandemic has shown that the World Health Organisation needs to be reformed or replaced.
“As the organisation’s second-biggest funder, the UK should follow America’s lead. In 2018, the UK gave the WHO $200m, the equivalent of billions of face masks or thousands of ICU ventilators.
“It needs to be made clear that the WHO leadership has to be replaced and the agency has to return to its core mission of tackling epidemics with transparency, honesty and a single-minded focus.
“This is not the first time it has dropped the ball on infectious disease. The harsh truth is that it will not reform itself unless it is threatened with budget cuts.”
Snowdon has also spoken about the possibility of replacing WHO if it cannot be reformed in its current state.
The think tank economist has also defended Trump’s decision to pull out, citing a “dangerously inept and often bizarre” approach to tackling the pandemic.
The call for the UK to defund WHO comes days after President Donald Trump announced he would stop financing the organization.
Around 15% of WHO’s budget is drawn from US funds. Last year, the USA donated around $400m to the tremendously scrutinized organization.
Last week, the President stated that he would be “looking into” defunding the WHO last week. National File was among the first outlets to report on this story, and today’s news deals a devastating blow to uninformed social media users who lied and decried the story as “fake news.”
“Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to asses the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” President Trump said.
National File recently reported on another UK think tank suggesting a near $4 trillion lawsuit against China for economic damage to G7 countries due to their lack of transparency and disinformation campaigns at vital stages of the outbreak.
