The Guardian view on the WHO and coronavirus: Trump’s blame game | Editorial
Cutting off funds to the international body will only punish those most vulnerable to Covid-19
The buck, once more, stops somewhere else. Donald Trump has announced he is suspending funding to the World Health Organization. The attempt to shift blame for his disastrous failure to protect his country, despite repeated warnings from the international body and others, could not be more naked or repugnant: "A crime against humanity," wrote one critic. The WHO, already run on a shoestring, is having its knees cut from under it as it tackles a pandemic that has already sickened 2 million people, claimed 125,000 lives and wrecked many more.
The US president has charged the WHO with "severely mismanaging and covering up" the outbreak. It declared the coronavirus a public health emergency on 30 January, while Mr Trump played down the outbreak repeatedly, failed to prepare his country and only declared a national emergency on 13 March. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, warned of "alarming levels of inaction" from many countries. So far 25,000 Americans have died.
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