US to pay $200 million membership fees 'withheld by Trump' in WHO obligations

US on Wednesday announced that it will pay more than $200 million to the World Health Organization (WHO)  by the end of the month as membership fees which was withheld by former President Donald Trump after he pulled out of the health authority, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the UN Security Council during a videoconference. The total funding, according to Blinken, includes assessed and current financial obligations that the US will pay after Biden’s reversal of Donald Trump’s withdrawal. The payment 'reflects our renewed commitment to ensuring the WHO has' needed support,’ the US State secretary said. 

"This is a key step forward in fulfilling our financial obligations as a WHO member," Blinken told the forum. "And it reflects our renewed commitment to ensuring the WHO has the support it needs to lead the global response to the pandemic, even as we work to reform it for the future,” he added. Furthermore, in his address, Blinken informed that the Biden administration was also planning to provide "significant financial support" to the UN's COVAX vaccine program for equitable access of the COVID-19 vaccines to the poorer countries.

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US support for WHO 'vital'

Biden acknowledged US support for WHO as ‘vital’, saying that the United States played a key role in fighting the pandemic. “The United States will work with our partners across the globe to expand manufacturing and distribution capacity and to increase access, including marginalized populations,” Blinken said, in his first-ever speech since he assumed US secretary of state chair. 

Calling on the nation to initiate the collective efforts to combat the misinformation on vaccines, Blinken said, that the WHO and rest of the countries must share any data from the initial days of the deadly COVID-19 outbreak. “The ongoing expert investigation about the origins of this pandemic and the report that will be issued must be independent with findings based on science and facts and free from interference,” Blinken said. “To better understand this pandemic and prepare for the next one, all countries must make available all data from the earliest days of the outbreak,” he added.

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