Thursday 16 April 2020

Trump's criticism of China is valid, but he should have al ook in his mirror.

If you think as i do that the Westminster and Senedd handling of the coronavirus crisis has been poor. it looks almost dynamic compared with Donald J Trump.


Leading health experts have denounced President Donald Trump’s decision to halt U.S. funding for the World Health Organization amid the coronavirus pandemic.
There may be valid criticism of Chin's initial response to the crisis when it emerged . The US president, who has laid increasing blame for the epidemic in his country at the foot of China and the WHO amid claims his response had been delayed and haphazard, announced his administration would be launching an investigation into the UN body on Tuesday.


However many would rightly point to the US President's handling of the crisis which  is very similar to  that of China.
Trump announced the move on Tuesday, accusing the WHO of failing “in its basic duty” to initially warn the world of the burgeoning public health crisis that is believed to have originated in China. Trump failed to acknowledge his own refusal to take action on pandemic warnings.
Lawrence Gostin, a global health law expert from Georgetown University, told MSNBC’s Ari Melber that “there’ll be many more deaths” without a WHO that’s empowered.


 I predict the world will step into leadership vacuum @POTUS created by cutting @WHO funding. China, Europe etc will increase funding. Only loser is US b/c we will lose all our influence. In global health & amidst a pandemic, America will lose its voicehttps://t.co/ETl1DUexS3
— Lawrence Gostin (@LawrenceGostin) April 15, 2020


Richard Horton, the editor-in-chief of the Lancet medical journal, described Trump’s decision as “a crime against humanity,” tweeting “every scientist, every health worker, every citizen must resist and rebel against this appalling betrayal of global solidarity.”
President Trump’s decision to defund WHO is simply this—a crime against humanity. Every scientist, every health worker, every citizen must resist and rebel against this appalling betrayal of global solidarity. https://t.co/7hTwUZ4lJV
— richard horton (@richardhorton1) April 14, 2020


“The president’s decision makes Americans less safe, let’s be clear about that,” Thomas Bollyky, the director of the Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, explained to CNN’s Don Lemon:
"The President's decision makes Americans less safe," says Tom Bollyky, director of the Global Health program at the Council on Foreign Relations, about President Trump's decision to halt funding to the World Health Organization. "This is a big mistake to go this route." pic.twitter.com/HRKXJpZxuW


— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) April 15, 2020
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, told Reuters that the WHO may indeed need to be reformed. But “it’s not the middle of a pandemic that you do this type of thing.”
CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta acknowledged the WHO made “missteps,” but warned cutting funds amid the pandemic would end up penalizing countries with weaker health care systems:
“Who are you really penalizing by these cuts?”@DrSanjayGupta says the World Health Organization made serious missteps in its coronavirus response but that cutting their funding in the middle of a pandemic could be costly. pic.twitter.com/pkom3Xx09N
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) April 15, 2020


American Medical Association President Dr. Patrice Harris warned halting funding “is a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating COVID-19 easier.”
“Fighting a global pandemic requires international cooperation and reliance on science and data,” Harris said in a statement shared online. “Cutting funding to the WHO – rather than focusing on solutions – is a dangerous move at a precarious moment for the world.”
“The AMA is deeply concerned by this decision and its wide-ranging ramifications, and we strongly urge the President to reconsider,” Harris added.

Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, an infectious disease doctor and associate professor at Boston University’s school of medicine, tweeted that cutting the funding “is an absolute disaster.”
Cutting 15% (US Contribution) of WHO budget during the biggest projected pandemic of the last century is an absolute disaster. @WHO is a global technical partner, the platform through which sovereign countries share data/technology, our eyes on the global scope of this pandemic.
— Dr. Nahid Bhadelia (@BhadeliaMD) April 14, 2020


And Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, who warned of a  pandemic in a 2015 TED talk, said halting funding is “as dangerous as it sounds.”
“Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them,” Gates wrote, adding: “The world needs @WHO more than ever.”
Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds. Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) April 15, 2020
Gostin also predicted a further loss of U.S. global influence as a consequence of Trump’s move:

Now is the time to strengthen the WHO and for the world government to prepare for the next pandemic , which will surely come and for a united effort to limit any such virus to the area it  occurs  and provide assistance both with medical supplies and financial package to help any lockdown.

It happened in China this time but i another  virus  could occur anywhere and we need to ensure  that Pety National Pride  or economic concerns , do not lead to another pandemic.

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