- According to the US President Donald Trump, the World Health Organization (WHO) has mismanaged and helped to cover up the spread of the coronavirus after it emerged in China.
- Trump levelled some of the charges against the WHO such as, not being transparent about coronavirus, misguiding that there is no human-to-human transmission, being China-centric, and finally opposing travel restrictions.
- Whereas, the WHO has defended its stand and the way it handled the starting stage of the pandemic.
- WHO has been looking at some of the charges President Trump has levelled against it.
A recently published article in BBC contributed by the Reality Check team, features about the various kinds of claims made against WHO by the US president Trump. And Let us see, how the WHO has defended the charges levelled by Trump.
Claim 1
“The WHO failed to adequately obtain, vet and share information in a timely and transparent fashion.”
The WHO says it acted properly in accordance with the information it was given by China, sharing it with medical and scientific experts around the world, including from the US.
But the WHO does not have the power to enforce or compel countries to hand over information. It was told by China of “a pneumonia of an unknown cause” on 31 December 2019, it says. And this was flagged on WHO social-media accounts on 4 January.
Claim 2
“Through the middle of January, it parroted… the idea that there was no human-to-human transmission happening despite… clear evidence to the contrary.”
On 14 January, the WHO tweeted: “Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission.”
But the same day, WHO emerging diseases unit acting head Maria van Kerkhove told journalists Wuhan had seen “limited” human-to-human transmission.
There was no clear evidence for “sustained” human-to-human transmission. But there was the potential for the virus to spread wider. And “we need to prepare ourselves”.
Then, in its public statement on 22 January, the WHO confirmed there was clear evidence of human-to-human transmission in Wuhan. And it denies allegations, published by the German magazine Der Spiegel, it held back information about human-to-human transmission at China’s request.
Claim 3
“The WHO [is] funded largely by the United States, yet is very China-centric.”
The US is one of the biggest contributors to the WHO, accounting for just under 15% of its funding in the past financial year. But the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also a major contributor, as are the UK and Germany.
The WHO did publicly praise China’s response to the coronavirus and its “commitment to transparency”. Dr Michael Ryan, of the WHO, says the organisation wanted to keep the lines of communication open with China as it battled to contain the virus.
And President Trump himself praised China’s initial response, on 24 January. But public health expert Lawrence Gostin told BBC News: “Constructive criticism of the WHO’s effusive praise for China is warranted.”
Taiwan’s warning turned down
The WHO has also been accused of being unduly influenced by Beijing over the issue of Taiwan. Taiwan is not a WHO member, as the island is not recognised by the UN. But, the WHO says, it does share information with it. Taiwan says it raised the alarm about the possible spread of the virus at the end of December after some of its scientists had visited Wuhan. But the evidence published so far shows Taiwan’s exchanges with the WHO did not specifically mention human-to-human transmission.
Taiwan says its warnings were ignored or not taken seriously. But the WHO denies this.
Claim 4
“One of the most dangerous decisions… from the WHO was… to oppose travel restrictions. They actually fought us.”
The US restricted travel from China and other countries from 2 February. But there is no record of the WHO publicly criticising this move. And it would have been highly unusual for it to do so.
But it had, on 10 January, put out advice recommending no international travel restrictions in response to the virus. And this was reconfirmed in a statement at the end of February, saying travel bans were not usually that effective and could have an adverse social and economic impact, although they might be justified for a short period of time at the start of an outbreak.
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Source: BBC
