by WorldTribune Staff, April 1, 2020
According to its most recent financial report, the World Health Organization (WHO) spends more on travel for meet and greets than it does on medical supplies.
In 2018, eight percent of the WHO’s budget went to travel expenses, while just 4 percent went to medical supplies and materials, the report shows.
“Of total travel expenditure, only 45 percent was for staff travel, the rest was incurred for non-staff travel, mainly for meeting participants nominated by Member States,” the financial report states.
The Associated Press reported in 2017 that the WHO, the health arm of the United Nations, “routinely has spent about $200 million a year on travel expenses, more than what it doles out to fight some of the biggest problems in public health, including AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.”
Amid the coronavirus crisis the WHO has come under fire for its tight relationship with China.
“The organization’s leadership has echoed the Chinese government’s talking points on the virus, providing ammunition for the communist regime in its propaganda war,” Daily Caller Editor Peter Hasson noted on March 31.
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott on Tuesday called for a congressional investigation into whether the WHO helped China’s communist government cover up the virus in its early stages.
The WHO has come under intense scrutiny over its initial efforts to downplay the severity of the coronavirus, including a Jan. 14 tweet stating that ”preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission” of the virus.
“The mission of the WHO is to get public health information to the world so every country can make the best decisions to keep their citizens safe. When it comes to coronavirus, the WHO failed,” Scott said.
“We know Communist China is lying about how many cases and deaths they have, what they knew and when they knew it — and the WHO never bothered to investigate further,” Scott added. “Their inaction cost lives.”
Scott said the WHO “willfully parroted propaganda” from China’s Communist Party, and he called for hearings and a full investigation when Congress returns to Washington next month.
Scott also called for congressional hearings on whether the United States should continue funding the WHO. The United States contributes nearly 15 percent of WHO’s annual budget, far more than any other member of the organization.
“They need to be held accountable for their role in promoting misinformation and helping Communist China cover up a global pandemic,” Scott said.
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