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World Health Organization officials are holding a press conference to update the public on the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 2.1 million people worldwide killed at least 147,384.
Earlier this week, WHO’s top official expressed “regret” after U.S. President Donald Trump said that the U.S. will suspend funding to WHO while it reviews the agency’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The United States of America has been a long-standing and generous friend to the WHO and we hope it will continue to be so,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference on Wednesday. “We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a hold in funding to the World Health Organization.”
The WHO’s funding runs in two-year budget cycles. For the 2018 and 2019 funding cycle, the U.S. paid a $237 million required assessment as well as an additional $656 million in voluntary contributions to the agency, averaging $446 million a year and representing about 14.67% of its total budget, according to spokesman Tarik Jasarevic.
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