Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Berlin Calls US Exit from WHO "Setback" for Int'l Cooperation


Wed 08 Jul 2020 | 03:29 PM
NaDa Mustafa

On Wednesday, Germany criticized the United States's (US) decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Berlin stressed that unity is required now more than ever amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On his part, German Health Minister Jens Spahn expressed his disappointment at the move.

He wrote on Twitter: "US withdrawal from WHO is a setback for international cooperation. Global infection dynamics show that coordinated action is required."

"We need more international cooperation to fight pandemics, not less. European states will initiate WHO reforms," he added.

It is worth mentioning that, The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday announced that the United States (US) would leave the World Health Organisation on July 6, 2021, after receiving formal notification of the decision by President Donald Trump more than a month ago.

“Trump had to give one-year notice of the U.S. withdrawal from the Geneva-based U.N. agency under a 1948 joint resolution of the U.S. Congress, which also obliges Washington to pay financial support. The United States currently owes the WHO more than $200 million in assessed contributions,” according to the WHO website.

The U.S. took such a move after Trump accused it of becoming a “puppet of China amid the coronavirus pandemic”. The virus first emerged in China’s Wuhan city late last year.