South Africa has said that it is "alarmed" by President Donald Trump's "regrettable" decision to cut the WHO funding at such a crucial time when the global health body deserves increased support from the member states to bolster its efforts to stop the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday, President Trump said that the US will halt funding to the World Health Organisation after he accused it of severely mismanaging" the coronavirus pandemic that surfaced in China.
The president said hundreds of millions of dollars in US funding would be suspended while a review was conducted to assess WHO's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus".
South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation in a statement said that the Government of the Republic of South Africa is very concerned and alarmed at the announcement by the President of the United States of America to cut funding to the WHO with immediate effect."
Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has also come out in strong support of WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, whom Trump accused of inefficient leadership earlier this week.
"South Africa is particularly alarmed that the decision is made amid a global health crisis that requires a full capacity WHO to provide support in combating the deadly COVID 19 pandemic."
"It is alarming that this very regrettable decision is announced as this deadly virus strikes Africa and the poorest and most vulnerable states."
South Africa has recorded 2,506 confirmed cases. The country has reported 14 more fatalities on Thursday from the novel coronavirus, bringing the country's death toll to 48.
The statement said that WHO, as the lead UN Agency, is mandated to promote health and to ensure universal health coverage globally, as well as being tasked to lead global efforts to suppress the transmission and stop the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is the sole global health agency, with the core focus on universal healthcare. As such, its efforts to coordinate a genuinely global response against this scourge should be recognised and supported.
With the coronavirus cases escalating at a rapid pace by the day, the announcement by the US to cut its funding to the WHO will have a significantly adverse impact on its programmes, and the world's ability to fight and eliminate this pandemic.
The US is the world's largest financial contributor to the WHO, accounting for roughly 15 per cent of its budget.
This, at a time where now more than ever, the international community has to stand together and work in the spirit of human solidarity and cooperation with one another.
We believe that, more than ever before, the WHO deserves increased support from member states in particular to bolster its efforts to suppress transmission and stop the pandemic.
South Africa has also called on the US to review the decision.
We are hopeful that the government of the United States will reconsider its decision and re-join the international community in fighting this pandemic, the statement concluded.
Pandor has also come to the defence of Ghebreyesus after Trump's allegations that under his leadership WHO had failed to get its medical experts into China to objectively assess the COVID-19 outbreak at its source.
Pandor said her assessment of Ghebreyesus was that he had led the global health agency of the United Nations with excellence.
He has done an excellent job. He has been transparent. He has been accountable and he has indicated to the world that all of us need to be alert. It is not easy to say to the world that this is a pandemic, meaning the globe is affected, and he did, Pandor told the Independent Online.
No one can honestly accuse Tedros of being transparent and accountable. I believe he has done an amazing job and I think through his communication, a lot of us became alert and said we must begin to prepare, Pandor added.
Several world leaders like, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and many others have rebuked Trump for his decision to stop funding the WHO.
The deadly coronavirus has infected more than 2.1 million people and killed at least 145,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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