WHO chief confident US will continue to help virus fight

Unity is key to success, says organization's head

The head of the World Health Organization believes that the United States will continue its contribution despite US President Donald Trump's repeated threats in the past week to withhold funding from the global health body.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that he has met Trump several times since 2017, and had a phone conversation with him two weeks ago.

"What I know is that he is supportive. And I hope the funding to the WHO will continue," he told a virtual news conference from Geneva. "The relationship we have is very good and we hope that this will continue."

The US is by far the largest fund contributor to the WHO, but it is in arrears. According to the Guardian newspaper, the US is around $200 million in arrears in assessed contributions, or national membership fees.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that Trump is likely to announce restrictions on US funding for the WHO this week over its alleged handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Last Friday Trump hinted at a temporary hold on US funding, but said he wanted to wait until after Easter to announce anything. He also said that his administration would discuss the organization "in great detail" this week, adding he did not want to go further "before we had all the facts".

Trump's comments are seen by some as a deflection from the sharp criticism his own handling of the pandemic has received at home. In the past week the Washington Post and New York Times have published lengthy articles detailing his poor response of the virus threat since late January, despite warnings that came from US agencies and his advisors.

Trump last week accused the WHO of being slow in making the calls and for being "China-centric" despite his own earlier remarks and tweets praising China's fight against the virus. In a Jan 24 tweet, Trump said "China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!"

The WHO declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Jan 30, saying in a statement that it is still possible to interrupt the spread of the virus, providing countries put in place strong measures to detect the disease early, isolate and treat cases, trace contacts, and promote social distancing measures commensurate with the risk.

The US and many other countries have largely underestimated the threat and ignored the WHO warnings.

Tedros reiterated on Monday that this is a new virus and the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus.

"We're all learning all the time and adjusting our strategy, based on the latest available evidence," he said. "We can only say what we know, and we can only act on what we know."

On Monday, Tedros thanked the United Kingdom for its contribution of 200 million pounds ($250 million) to the global response to COVID-19. He also cited an editorial published last week by development ministers from the UK, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Germany, Norway and Sweden, calling on all countries to join this common endeavour.

"They said that tackling this disease together is our only option. I couldn't agree more," Tedros said, clearly referring to some divisive voices against the WHO, which has been leading the global fight against the pandemic.

"The way forward is solidarity, solidarity at the national level, and solidarity at the global level," Tedros added.