Part 2. Trump just announced he is suspending funding to
@WHO while a review is conducted *THIS IS DESPICABLE* My last thread gave a timeline of WHO actions. Now, here's why pulling funds spells disaster to many low and middle-income countries. #2

The @WHO is currently handling >30 health emergencies around the world besides #COVID19, like measles & Ebola in DRC. This includes work on the frontlines, as I've written about https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02673-7 BUT that's just one pillar of their work.

They also provide guidance & assistance for infectious diseases like TB, non-communicable diseases, polio eradication, tropical disease research & my personal fave: health system strengthening (so people stop dying of preventable diseases.) All this for *roughly* $2.4b per year.

For sake of comparison the US CDC is *6 times* that at around $12.7 billion ($7.7b for discretionary spending.) Maybe here I can note that the US CDC doesn't even hold regular press briefings on #COVID19.

But the US is the @WHO's biggest funder. Right now, they need those funds to help prepare low & middle income countries that have almost no ventilators, little protective gear for health workers & few doctors to begin with.

Dr. Fauci said the WHO has done an overwhelmingly good job. We can reassess the international health regulations later -- and discuss if or how @WHO can criticize the countries it is trying to help when its only power is diplomacy. But for now, this measure by Trump is dangerous.