Trump’s war on WHO

“How difficult is it for humans to unite to fight a common enemy that’s killing people indiscriminately? Can’t we understand that the divisions or the cracks between us actually are to the advantage of the virus?”

These are the words of the WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was underpinning the importance of international unity and coordination in the fight against Covid-19 in Geneva after President Donald Trump officially terminated his country’s relationship with WHO. The termination will come into effect on July 6, 2021.

Owing primarily to Trump’s inept handling of the Covid-19 crisis, the US has been pummelled by the pandemic: there are 3.24 million confirmed cases and 136,000 confirmed deaths. Despite this, Trump has found it logically tenable to sever Washington’s ties with WHO. Putting on full display his now familiar cacophonous rhetoric, Trump lambasted WHO for its numerous inadequacies. He referred to the organisation’s failure to acquire, examine and share information quickly and transparently, avowing erroneously that there was no human-to-human transmission involved in the spread of Covid-19 and its alleged intimacy with China.

This is perhaps the first time the president of the world’s most powerful country has publicly snubbed WHO. And whilst it is perfectly legitimate to assess the performance of WHO and raise questions about its institutional skills to prevent, detect, and counter infectious diseases transparently, the manner in which Trump dealt with the matter was un-American, un-presidential, uncouth and unfortunate. Matters of global import are addressed with suavity, grace and civility; heads of states do not harass officials of non-state organisations in this offensive fashion. The move to disassociate the US from WHO is irresponsible, myopic and unimaginative — it would badly dent Washington’s global leadership persona.

But madness and method often work hand in glove. It is possible that the decision has been taken to mask the excruciating incompetence the Trump administration has consistently demonstrated while tackling Covid-19. It might be an effort to veer the blame for the ravages of the virus in the US away from Trump and place it squarely on WHO and China. This might help Trump convince angry GOP voters to vote for him in November’s presidential election. It could also be aimed at painting China as the real villain in the global Covid-19 fiasco. It may well be Trump’s attempt to dovetail his policy to diplomatically pin down China with his brittle strategy to combat Covid-19.

Notwithstanding the driving force behind this decision, its consequences could be disastrous. It could hamstring global efforts to eradicate HIV, polio, malaria, and other deadly diseases. It could also lead to the resurgence of some of the most dangerous infections humanity has known. The US is the biggest WHO donor, doling out about 15% of its budget. WHO’s inability to operate at its best might also disrupt its scientific linkages with many nations around the world, thereby causing a rapid deterioration in the global health infrastructure. Likewise, worldwide supply and distribution of life-saving drugs and vaccines could become problematic. WHO’s emaciation could also sabotage clinical trials that are being conducted to develop vaccines for Covid-19 and other infections.

The world is in the midst of an apocalyptic health crisis that has affected millions of people globally. Being a pandemic, Covid-19 needs to be handled with the help of a well-crafted, all-inclusive international plan. This cannot be done in isolation — the elaborate global remedial paradigm being built meticulously to respond to Covid-19 must not be allowed to fail. WHO has the potential and reputation to spearhead humanity’s protracted war against Covid-19. Undermining it at the moment could usher in a catastrophe of epic proportions.

To quote Mr Tedros again, “This once-in-a-century pandemic has hammered home a critical lesson: When it comes to health, our destinies are intertwined.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2020.

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