Tag: WHO

‘Blackmail’: Trump ‘blindsided’ officials with list of 7 demands for World Health Organization. ‘It was an enormous backfire’

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In the early days of the pandemic, President Donald Trump tried to handle the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) as if were just another business transaction — but he likely did not bank on Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ refusal to comply with his wishes. 

According to The New York Times, Trump had Andrew Bremberg, the American ambassador in Geneva, to deliver a list of seven demands to Tedros. He reportedly was not pleased when Tedros refused to negotiate.

Bremberg also released a statement criticizing the W.H.O. and placing blame on the organization for its failure to “rebuild trust among some of its critical member states.” Continue reading.

WHO study finds remdesivir didn’t help COVID-19 patients

GENEVA — A large study led by the World Health Organization suggests that the antiviral drug remdesivir did not help hospitalized COVID-19 patients, in contrast to an earlier study that made the medicine a standard of care in the United States and many other countries.

The results announced Friday do not negate the previous ones, and the WHO study was not as rigorous as the earlier one led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. But they add to concerns about how much value the pricey drug gives because none of the studies have found it can improve survival.

The drug has not been approved for COVID-19 in the U.S., but it was authorized for emergency use after the previous study found it shortened recovery time by five days on average. It’s approved for use against COVID-19 in the United Kingdom and Europe, and is among the treatments U.S. President Donald Trump received when he was infected earlier this month. Continue reading.

WHO warns 2 million deaths ‘not impossible’ as global fatalities approach 1 million

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NOTE: This article is provided free of charge by The Washington Post.

With the world fast approaching 1 million deaths officially related to covid-19, a doubling of that number is “certainly unimaginable, but it’s not impossible,” World Health Organization expert Mike Ryan said Friday at a news briefing.

“If we look at losing 1 million people in nine months and then we just look at the realities of getting vaccines out there in the next nine months, it’s a big task for everyone involved,” Ryan, the executive director of WHO’s health emergencies program, said. Continue reading.

Trump administration moves to formally withdraw US from WHO

The Hill logoThe White House has officially moved to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), a senior administration official confirmed Tuesday, breaking ties with a global public health body in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. has submitted its withdrawal notification to the United Nations secretary-general, the official said. Withdrawal requires a year’s notice, so it will not go into effect until July 6, 2021, raising the possibility the decision could be reversed.

Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted that the administration informed Congress of the withdrawal plans. Continue reading.

Are asymptomatic people spreading the coronavirus? A WHO official’s words spark confusion, debate

NOTE:  This article is being provided free of charge by The Washington Post.

Washington Post logoThe World Health Organization moved Tuesday to clarify its position on whether people without symptoms are widely spreading the new coronavirus, saying much remains unknown about asymptomatic transmission.

A comment by a WHO official on Monday — calling such asymptomatic transmissions “very rare” — touched off a furious scientific debate over the unresolved question and attracted widespread criticism of the organization.

Less than 24 hours later, WHO convened a special news conference to walk back its comments, stressing that much remains unknown. But the comment from Monday had already spread widely and been seized upon by conservatives and others to bolster arguments that people do not need to wear masks or maintain social distancing precautions. Continue reading.

Trump: US ‘terminating’ relationship with WHO

The Hill logoPresident Trump said Friday that the United States is “terminating” its relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO) over its response to the novel coronavirus, following through on a threat issued earlier this month.

Speaking at a press conference in the White House Rose Garden, Trump accused the WHO of being under China’s “total control” and of failing to make reforms requested by his administration. The president said he would “redirect” funds promised to the WHO to assist other global health needs.

“We have detailed the reforms that it must make and engaged with them directly, but they have refused to act,” Trump said.  Continue reading.

Scoop: Xi accepts, while Trump rejects, invite to address WHO

Axios logoPresident Trump declined an invitation to address a virtual gathering of the World Health Organization, which proceeded today with addresses from several world leaders but only a blistering rebuke from the U.S.

The big picture: A source familiar with Trump’s thinking said he has no interest in doing anything with the WHO right now. Trump has excoriated the WHO, saying it’s kowtowing to China, and he’s frozen U.S. funding for the global health agency.

Behind the scenes: The WHO extended an invitation earlier this month for Trump to speak at Monday’s virtual gathering of the World Health Assembly, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Continue reading.

EXCLUSIVE: Meet the top American fighting COVID-19 at WHO

The Hill logoWhen Maria Van Kerkhove sat before a room full of reporters on Jan. 14, she admits she was a little nervous.

As the newly appointed technical lead in charge of a key pillar of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) response to a coronavirus outbreak that was beginning to spread in China, it was her first experience talking to a media scrum hungry for answers.

Three months later, Van Kerkhove, 43, looks like the savvy veteran. Continue reading.

Americans at World Health Organization transmitted real-time information about coronavirus to Trump administration

Washington Post logoMore than a dozen U.S. researchers, physicians and public health experts, many of them from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were working full time at the Geneva headquarters of the World Health Organization as the novel coronavirus emerged late last year and transmitted real-time information about its discovery and spread in China to the Trump administration, according to U.S. and international officials.

A number of CDC staff members are regularly detailed to work at the WHO in Geneva as part of a rotation that has operated for years. Senior Trump-appointed health officials also consulted regularly at the highest levels with the WHO as the crisis unfolded, the officials said.

The presence of so many U.S. officials undercuts President Trump’s assertion that the WHO’s failure to communicate the extent of the threat, born of a desire to protect China, is largely responsible for the rapid spread of the virus in the United States. Continue reading.

China hawks flex muscle amid coronavirus fallout

The Hill logoThe fallout from the coronavirus is shaking up the U.S.-China relationship on Capitol Hill, as a group of hawkish lawmakers fiercely criticize Beijing’s response to the disease.

Republicans are pushing for their colleagues and the Trump administration to take a more aggressive stance toward Beijing, which they say downplayed the virus’s danger.

China’s government has become a target for criticism for Republicans, along with the World Health Organization (WHO). President Trump on Tuesday said he would halt funding to that organization. Continue reading.