On Monday, the World Health Organization’s director-general encouraged countries to start working together to end the pandemic’s acute stage, claiming that they now had all the instruments they need, Reuters reports.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is now entering its third year and we are at a critical juncture,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated during a media briefing with the German minister of development Svenja Schulze.
The WHO chief said on Monday that Germany had overtaken the United States as the agency’s greatest donor, without providing any specifics. Historically, the United States has contributed the largest financial contribution to the WHO of all member states.
Schulze stated that ending the epidemic internationally is Germany’s top goal since becoming the G7 president, and he urged for a sped-up, intensified, worldwide vaccination program to achieve those results
The ceremony in Geneva starts off a week of WHO Executive Board meetings in Geneva, where major parts of the United Nations’ health organization’s future will be considered, including Tedros’ campaign for a second term and a plan to make the agency more financially independent.
According to four individuals participating in the negotiations, the United States, the World Health Organization’s biggest donor, is fighting suggestions to make the institution more autonomous, casting doubt on the Biden administration’s long-term support for the UN body.
According to a WHO document released online on Jan. 4, the proposal, presented by the WHO’s working group on sustainable funding, would boost each member state’s standing yearly payment.
The initiative is part of a larger reform effort sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, which exposed the WHO’s limited ability to respond early in a crisis.
However, the US government opposes the change because it is concerned about the WHO’s capacity to deal with future challenges, notably those posed by China, according to US officials.
Instead, it is advocating for the formation of a separate fund that would support the prevention and control of health emergencies and would be directly managed by contributors.
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