Skip to main content

Donald Trump threatens to cut funding to 'China-centric' World Health Organisation


US President Donald Trump threatened to freeze US funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), saying the international group had failed on the coronavirus pandemic.
Do we need the WHO? - Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy ...
Background

Trump suggested that the WHO had gone along with Beijing’s efforts months ago to under-represent the severity of the outbreak.

 Details

WHO
Ø The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. It is part of the U.N. Sustainable Development Group.

Ø It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with six semi-autonomous regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide.

Ø The WHO's broad mandate includes advocating for universal healthcare, monitoring public health risks, coordinating responses to health emergencies, and promoting human health and well being.

Ø It provides technical assistance to countries, sets international health standards and guidelines, and collects data on global health issues through the World Health Survey.

Ø Its flagship publication, the World Health Report, provides expert assessments of global health topics and health statistics on all nations. The WHO also serves as a forum for summits and discussions on health issues.

 Funding

Ø  There are four kinds of contributions that make up funding for the WHO.

Ø  These are assessed contributions, specified voluntary contributions, core voluntary contributions, and PIP contributions.

Ø  Assessed contributions are the dues countries pay in order to be a member of the Organization. The amount each Member State must pay is calculated relative to the country’s wealth and population.

Ø  Voluntary contributions come from Member States (in addition to their assessed contribution) or from other partners. They can range from flexible to highly earmarked.

Ø  Core voluntary contributions allow less well-funded activities to benefit from a better flow of resources and ease implementation bottlenecks that arise when immediate financing is lacking.

Ø  Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Contributions were started in 2011 to improve and strengthen the sharing of influenza viruses with human pandemic potential, and to increase the access of developing countries to vaccines and other pandemic related supplies.

Ø  The United States is currently the WHO’s biggest contributor, making up 14.67 percent of total funding by providing USD 553.1 million.

Ø  The US is followed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation forming 9.76 percent or USD 367.7 million.
The third biggest contributor is the GAVI Vaccine Alliance at 8.39 percent, with the UK (7.79 percent) and Germany (5.68 percent) coming fourth and fifth respectively.

Ø  The four next biggest donors are international bodies: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (5.09 percent), World Bank (3.42 percent), Rotary International (3.3 percent), and the European Commission (3.3 percent). India makes up 0.48 percent of total contributions and China 0.21 percent.

Ø  The biggest program area where the money is allocated is polio eradication (26.51 percent), followed by increasing access to essential health and nutrition services (12.04 percent), and preventable diseases vaccines (8.89 percent).
 To know more, visit :-
The telegraph

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Antarctica experiences first known heat wave

Researchers from the Australian Antarctic Program revealed that they had recorded temperatures as high as 9.2 degrees Celsius at Casey station in the continent east earlier this year, indicating a heatwave event. Background Heat waves are classified as three consecutive days with both extreme maximum and minimum temperatures. Between January 23 and 26, the station recorded minimum temperatures above zero degrees Celsius and a maximum temperature of 9.2 degrees Celsius. Details ➤ Scientists are concerned about the effect that the heat wave could have on Antarctica’s ecology,  both positive and negative. ➤ Most life exists in small ice-free oases in Antarctica, and largely depends on melting snow and ice for their water supply. ➤ Melted ice flooding can provide additional water to these desert ecosystems, leading to increased growth and reproduction of mosses, lichens, microbes and invertebrates. However excessive flooding can dislodge plants and alter the co...
Post a Comment
Read more

India Unemployment Rate Increased After Lockdown

The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has said that the unemployment rate shot up in March. The employment rate in the economy fell to an all-time low of 38.2 percent in March 2020. Background With the coronavirus outbreak severely affecting every country, its impact on an already hobbling Indian economy is set to be devastating if the latest data on unemployment rate is taken as an indicator.  Details   Ø The Labour Participation Rate (LPR) in March 2019 was 42.7 percent. This is the first time the LPR has fallen below 42 percent. Ø The monthly figures from the CMIE that were released recently also show a curious inversion. In urban India, unemployment among the uneducated is at a higher level than those with a graduate degree (13%), for the first time since early-2016. Ø Most of the people are employed in service sector jobs in construction, repair, or unorganized transport, all of which have come to a standstill due to the current lockd...
Post a Comment
Read more

Universe expansion may not be Uniform

Astronomers have assumed for decades that the Universe is expanding at the same rate in all directions. A new study based on data from ESA's XMM-Newton, NASA's Chandra and the German-led ROSAT X-ray observatories suggests this key premise of cosmology might be wrong. Background Researchers set out to verify a new method that would enable astronomers to test the so-called isotropy hypothesis. According to this assumption, the Universe has, despite some local differences, the same properties in each direction on the large scale. Details Ø Widely accepted as a consequence of well-established fundamental physics, the hypothesis has been supported by observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Ø A direct remnant of the Big Bang, the CMB reflects the state of the Universe as it was in its infancy, at only 380 000 years of age. Ø The CMB's uniform distribution in the sky suggests that in those early days the Universe must have been expand...
Post a Comment
Read more