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The US gov threatened to cut off aid to @WHO today. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/world/coronavirus-updates-news-live.html#link-5e3b2c82 This would be a mistake on many levels. 1/x
. @WHO is the organization that provides health guidance and technical experts to countries globally. In normal times it helps countries around world deal w/ worst health scourges and epidemics in the world, including HIV, TB, malaria, plague, meningitis, and so much more. 2/x
Experts @WHO regularly put themselves in harms way to deal with epidemics, disasters and chaos in the world. 3/x
And in this pandemic, @WHO has provided COVID diagnostic testing to a great number of countries in the world. It has provided guidance on who should be tested, how people should be isolated, cared for. How countries should deal w/ epidemic spread. 4/x
There is no back up organization or plan for @WHO. They are the world’s international health organization. They are the organization that we have, and fortunately they are made up of experts from around the world, including the US.5/x
The earliest opportunity that US health leaders had to visit China in order to understand COVID was under the auspices of @WHO. Without WHO, it is unclear if we would have had any health or science officials able to be on the ground in China during early months of COVID. 6/x
. @WHO is governed by the World Health Assembly, and the US is a powerful member of that assembly. It is in the strong interest of the US that this Assembly and this @WHO exists, resourced and highly competent.7/x
Consider the alternative – no guiding international health org w/ high competence. Every country figuring out how to deal w/ COVID pandemic on its own. No central effort, no teams to help less developed countries response. Chaotic, uncoordinated plans around the world. 8/x
For normalcy to eventually return to the world, we'll need to deal w COVID pandemic everywhere over time. If we don’t, we’ll have cases of COVID flying from one country to next, risking reigniting the epidemic in any country even if control efforts were successful.9/x
It's important that the Administration take the long view w/ @WHO. There may be periodic misunderstandings or communication challenges. But US interests are clearly aligned with @WHO. If it didn’t exist, the world would need to invent it.10/x
But fortunately @WHO does exist and has many very competent leaders and experts. The US should increase its support for WHO in a time of unprecedented global health crisis. It needs more resources, not less. The world needs WHO to deal w/ COVID, and so does the US.11/x
