World Health Organisation official's powerful response to Donald Trump cutting WHO funding
15 April 2020, 12:04 | Updated: 7 June 2023, 08:56
WHO Special Envoy's powerful response to Trump cutting US funding
Donald Trump has decided to pull US payments to the World Health Organisation. This is a senior official's powerful response to the President's decision.
The president has accused the body of covering up the spread of Covid-19 at its outset in China and stopped all funding, around 15% of the total.
The decision has caused widespread condemnation at a time when the whole world is battling coronavirus pandemic.
And speaking to LBC, Dr David Nabarro, a special envoy to the WHO, told the President that their entire role is simply to keep people healthy.
READ MORE: What is the WHO and why has Trump cut funding?
He said: "We're in the middle of the biggest health crisis that I've ever known in 45 years of being a medical practitioner. We have more than half the world living in lockdown. We have government's everywhere struggling as we try to deal with an unprecedented situation.
"How do you come out of lockdown and at the same time be safe in the face of a virus that is particularly dangerous, especially for old people? And in the meantime, there are hundreds of millions of people who are getting poorer, short of food, short of medicine because of the lockdowns being imposed.
"Is this the right time to be saying 'We'll take the one organisation that works for the health of everybody and we'll cut off 25% of their funding, we'll show that we don't trust them, we'll create suspicion that they are not impartial.
"People like me, who've worked in this area, we only have one motivation. That is, the wellbeing of everybody, regardless of sex, age, nationality, geography. That is what we work for and that's what the World Health Organisation stands for.
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"I think it's an odd thing to do.
"But I'm not the person who's done it. I'm just going to go on doing what I'm doing. And all the hundreds and thousands of public health professionals will continue doing what they're doing - working hard for the good of humanity."
Watch his full response at the top of the page.
