A World Health Organization (WHO) official is weighing in on the possibility of President Donald Trump deciding to sever the United States ties with the global health agency.
During an interview on CNN, Stewart Simonson — the assistant director-general of general management for the WHO — said that he “cannot imagine” the agency without the presence of the United States.
“WHO was founded by the United States and other member states. WHO has benefited from enormous generosity from the people of the United States and almost incalculable technical support,” Simonson said on Sunday during his appearance on “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”
He added, “The United States, since at least 1902, has been the leader in global public health, and I cannot imagine an environment where the United States would not be in WHO and contributing to WHO as it does today.”
Simonson went on to address the criticism the agency has faced amid the pandemic. President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused the agency of withholding information and failing to respond in a timely manner.
See Simonson’s remarks below:
What does the @WHO say to accusations by Pres. Trump & allies that it mishandled Covid-19 & was afraid to offend China? And as Trump threatens to pull funding, could it function w/o the US?
— Fareed Zakaria (@FareedZakaria) May 24, 2020
I asked one of the org's top officials, Stewart Simonson, who leads its office in NYC. pic.twitter.com/UcYXC6XzBZ
In response to the accusations, Simonson said, “Both assertions are wrong on their face.”
Simonson’s interview comes less than one week after Trump’s letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The president issued an ultimatum to the agency demanding improvements over the next 30 days, as previously reported on IJR.
Despite Trump’s claims, Simonson insists otherwise. He has also defended Ghebreyesus and the agency’s work.
“There is no conceivable reason WHO would sit on information. No interest of ours is served by doing so,” Simonson said. “Our interest is in sounding the alarm when the evidence is indicates the alarm should be sounded and that is exactly what Dr. Tedros did.”
As of Monday morning, there are more than 1.6 million coronavirus cases in the United States as the death toll approaches 100,000.
