Unhealthy decision

President Donald Trump’s ability to throw a spanner in the works is well demonstrated. As the world, including the US, grapples with a pandemic that is as virulent as it is infectious, the one thing that is expected is that the world body at the forefront of tackling the crisis would get all the support it requires. President Trump has done precisely the opposite by cutting the US funding of the World Health Organisation (WHO). He blames the WHO for being insufficiently critical about China’s early response to coronavirus. The case could be argued either way, and the WHO is no stranger to being blamed. It was criticised for declaring the 2009 swine flu a pandemic too early, and of being too late to act during the 2014 Ebola crisis.

Since 1948, the WHO has proved its usefulness to the world repeatedly. It has promoted international cooperation, set protocols and procedures, and encouraged more interaction between nation-states on matters of health. Indeed, the fight against smallpox represented a significant success and involved active cooperation between two Cold War adversaries, the US and the USSR.

Pandemics know no national barriers. The need for a coordinated effort to battle disease is so apparent that it would not ever bear stating, except for now. The US is the WHO’s largest donor by far, contributing 10 times what China does to the organisation. President Trump is peeved with what he perceives to be a pro-China tilt in the health body. Surely, the way to counter that would be to honour the US’ commitment. Naturally, those who fill the purse have a greater say than those who don’t. The world needs the WHO and international cooperation. It does not behove the US to renege on its international commitment, more so during a crisis. The global nature of the current threat has made it imperative that leaders rise above the demands of strident nationalism and petty domestic politics. Those who fail to do so will be judged harshly by history.