WHO is an 'imperfect organisation' but the world does need it, says Anthony Fauci

Amid the soaring tensions between the World Health Organisation and the United States, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci said that ‘the world does need a WHO’. While speaking during a Georgetown University Global Health Initiative webinar, Fauci called the UN agency ‘imperfect organisation’ and acknowledge that they have made mistakes. However, he also added that he would like to see the mistake corrected and the WHO to be ‘much more in line’ with the kinds of things that the world needs. 

While earlier this month, the United States formally notified the United Nations over its decision to withdraw from the WHO over an alleged conspiracy with China to conceal information on virus outbreak, Fauci said that he hopes the tensions between the WHO and the US ultimately gets settles in a ‘favourable way’. He further added that the ‘world does need a WHO for outbreaks’ and for the general health of the globe to coordinate it. 

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US President Donald Trump stopped funding to the UN health agency in April and a month later, announced that the US will be terminating its relationship. On the July 6, US had sent a formal notification to the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres informing of its withdrawal from the World Health Organisation, which is due to take effect next year on July 6. 

The decision has garnered both global and internal criticism, including from the leaders of the Democratic Party, who say that WHO is coordinating the global fight against COVID-19 and withdrawing at such a juncture will cripple the efforts. According to reports, the United States will have to clear all its dues before leaving WHO officially, which stands at $200 million currently. 

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COVID-19 could be as serious as Spanish Flu

Even with soaring tensions between the US and the WHO, the country’s top infectious disease specialist said that he has been working with the UN agency for the last 40 years. Furthermore, he added that he thinks that there are ‘good people’ in the organisation, including WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.  

Meanwhile, with increasing numbers of coronavirus cases, during the same webinar, Fauci also asserted that the deadly virus is a pandemic of ‘historic proportions’ and has the potential to be as dangerous as the 1918 Spanish Flu. He said, “If you look at the magnitude of the 1918 pandemic, where anywhere from 50 to 75 to 100 million people globally died, that was the mother of all pandemics and truly historic. I hope we don't even approach that with this, but it does have the makings of, the possibility of ... approaching that in seriousness”. 

(Image/Inputs: AP)

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