World Health Organization impacted by US funding withdrawal

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Ana Maldonado
Treasurer, Model United Nations
New Mexico State University

April 16, 2020

The World Health Organization has mobilized prevention guidelines, advanced research and opened the doors for potential treatments against the novel coronavirus that has infected over 2 million and killed over 130,000 people worldwide. Although the WHO has played a significant role in the battle against COVID-19, a recent decision executed by President Trump has mandated the withdrawal of US funding to the WHO. This decision poses a concern over the effect that it will have in the fight against the Coronavirus. The decision to withdraw funding arose from accusations by President Trump against the WHO of mismanaging and covering up the spread of the virus and not responding quickly to the crisis. The US allocates approximately $400 million dollars in funding, representing about 15% of the total budget of the WHO. Without such funding, the WHO faces significant challenges in carrying out vaccination campaigns, responding to health emergencies and providing medical support worldwide. The WHO has responded to the US decision, noting that it alerted the world to coronavirus on January 5, 2020.

There is currently no established course of treatment against COVID-19, and various studies have provided deeper insight on the deadly effects of the virus. According to Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos at Johns Hopkins University, the presence of the virus within the body signals an immunological response in order to attack the virus effectively and engage in recovery from infection. However, it has been deduced that a possible cytokine storm, a lethal overdrive of immunological responses in the body, is a main factor in significant rates of mortality in all ages. Although the US has the highest infection and fatality rate in the entire world, infection rates have recently gone down, while similar trends have been observed in various countries such as Italy, France, Iran and among others. As the scientific community and other entities across the world are actively searching for solutions against the virus, it is important to follow health and safety precautions in order to minimize the spread of the virus which can have an effect on anyone.