WHO chief comments on Biden victory

GENEVA, Switzerland (NBC) – The World Health Organization chief welcomed efforts Monday to strengthen the Geneva-based body through reform and said that it was looking forward to working closely with the administration of President-elect Joe Biden.

“We congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, and we look forward to working with his administration very closely,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We need to re-imagine leadership, build on mutual trust and mutual accountability to end the pandemic and address the fundamental inequalities that lie at the root of so many of the world’s problems.”

President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of being “China-centric” in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a charge its chief has repeatedly denied.

President Trump has frozen US funding to the WHO and begun a process that would see the United States withdraw from the body next July, drawing wide international criticism amid the pandemic.

Ghebreyesus said, “Predictable and sustainable funding remains one of the fundamental challenges for the future success of this organization. For WHO to do its job, we must address the shocking and expanding imbalance between assets contributions and voluntary, largely earmarked funds. In the past decade, the world’s expectations of WHO have grown dramatically, but our budget has barely changed.”

President-elect Biden has said he would rescind President Trump’s decision to abandon the WHO on his first day in office.

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