Geneva: China will provide USD 2 billion over two years to fight the coronavirus pandemic, President Xi Jinping said Monday. Xi Jinping, is rallying around the World Health Organisation (WHO) and its efforts to contain the COVID-19 virus. It will be a shot in the arm for WHO as the Trump administration has slashed funding.
The European Union’s (EU) 27-member bloc and other countries however, had a separate agenda. They called for an independent evaluation of WHO’s initial response to the coronavirus pandemic. This evaluation needs to be done ‘to review experience gained and lessons learned’.
Xi Jinping comes clean
In a speech to the World Health Assembly (WHA), Xi said China had provided all relevant outbreak data to WHO and other countries. Xi asserted that the virus’ genetic sequence has been provided, ‘in a most timely fashion’.
“We have shared control and treatment experience with the world without reservation,” Xi said. “We have done everything in our power to support and assist countries in need,” he added.
The USD 2 billion over the next two years will support COVID-19 response efforts, particularly in developing countries, Xi said.
Evaluation process
The EU resolution proposes that the independent evaluation should be initiated ‘at the earliest appropriate moment’. It should, among other issues, examine ‘the actions of WHO and their timelines pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic’.
WHO announced the coronavirus outbreak to be a global health emergency January 30, its highest level of alert. In the following weeks, WHO warned countries there was a narrowing ‘window of opportunity’ to prevent the virus from spreading globally.
Costly mistake
Officials of WHO, however, repeatedly described the transmission of the virus as ‘limited’. They said it wasn’t as transmissible as flu; experts have since said COVID-19 spreads even faster.
The UN health body declared the outbreak to be a pandemic March 11. This came after the virus had killed thousands globally and sparked large epidemics in South Korea, Italy, Iran and elsewhere.
Xi said he also supported the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19. “This work should be based on science and professionalism, led by WHO and conducted in objective and impartial manner,” he said.
AP