WHO chief hopes US will reconsider decision to withdraw from UN health body

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, US President Donald Trump has taken steps towards removing the United States from the World Health Organisation but WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus remains hopeful that the US will reconsider its decision. According to reports, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also stated that the deadly coronavirus was not something that could be defeated by a world that was divided and bickering amongst itself.

'World Must Work Together': WHO Director-General

As per reports, while speaking at the Aspen Security Forum via video link the WHO director-general on August 6 said that the world must work together in order to beat COVID-19 and therefore he hopes that the United States will reconsider its stance in regards to leaving the WHO.

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According to reports, US President Donald Trump decided to cut ties with WHO due to accusations of mishandling the coronavirus crisis. The WHO director-general during his speech further added that any issues with the working of the WHO and the UN system as a whole could be addressed without taking the drastic step of cutting ties with the organization itself. The United States formally notified the World Health Organisation of its intention to leave the organization as well as terminate all funding last month.

The deadly coronavirus which began in an illegal wet market in Wuhan, China last year has quickly spread all over the world, the virus named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation has infected 19,111,123 people worldwide and the global death toll stands at 715,024. As per the John Hopkins coronavirus resource centre, the United States has reported a total of at least 4,883,657 positive virus cases and has a death toll of 160,104. The US currently has the highest number of reported cases in the world, making it the epicentre of the deadly virus.

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