This is like suspending firefighters while they are trying to save your house from the flames, pending a review of whether the trucks arrived later than they should. The world needs to focus on fighting #covid19 not each other and it needs @WHO to do that. https://twitter.com/sciencecohen/status/1250187395015815169

When I talked to @DrTedros about his role in December, he told me how precarious it is that @WHO relies on just a few large donors: “If one of them refuses to continue funding, WHO could get into a serious shock,” he said. The US is the largest donor.

People misunderstand the power and the scope of @WHO. In the profile I also talked about the organization‘s budget. It is about 2,5 billion dollars, less than the budget of some large US hospitals.

When this is over, there will be many reports on what went wrong and there will be plenty of blame to go around. Who knew what when in China? Who knew what when in the US? When did @WHO act in what way? But also: Has the world funded WHO adequately for what it expects it to do?

Graphic and quote are from this story published in February: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/mission-impossible-who-director-fights-prevent-pandemic-without-offending-china

And here are some reactions to Trump’s announcement incl. from @JeremyKonyndyk who says it „leaves the US and the world less safe“ and „is a transparent attempt to shift blame for the U.S. administration’s own failings.“ https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/trump-freezes-us-funding-who-world-fights-pandemic#