The World Health Organization has now become the latest victim of U.S. President Donald Trump’s typical tactic of pointing his finger at others. Trump has himself to blame for his administration’s bungled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he has slammed the WHO for being “very China-centric” and is now halting funding to the organization pending a review.
Since his attacks, opinions have split in terms of whether the WHO is really at fault. Those dissatisfied with the Trump administration’s handling of the outbreak seem eager to defend the organization. Yet one does not have to agree with Trump to condemn the WHO. The world community would benefit from insisting on better performance from the world’s health body, rather than normalizing its failings.
The WHO and its director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, have been rightly criticized for actions that helped China downplay the COVID-19 crisis at its most crucial stage: the start. The WHO has recently sought to counter those criticisms, claiming that its experts had already suspected human-to-human transmission in early January and had urged member states to take precautions on Jan. 10-11.