WHO boss Tedros Adhanom will face a public inquiry for his COVID-19 response
The first cracks have appeared in rhetoric by World Health Organisation boss Tedros Adhanom who has admitted he will “learn” from his organisation’s bungled response to COVID-19 after Donald Trump axed $400 million in US funding. President Donald Trump has also called for an urgent investigation into the organisation’s ties to China and demanded an explanation as to why it accepted false data from China on face value. Canadian academics have conclusively proven China used artificial intelligence technology to censor all early warnings about the coronavirus, a decision which likely killed tens of thousands of people. Mr Adhanom said Mr Trump’s decision was regretful but revealed his performance would face a public inquiry after the COVID-19 crisis had passed. “In due course, WHO’s performance in tackling this pandemic will be reviewed by WHO’s Member States and the independent bodies that are in place, to ensure transparency and accountability. This is part of the usual process put in place by our Member States”, he stated. “No doubt areas or improvement will be identified and there will be lessons for all of us to learn but for now my focus is on stopping this virus. “We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organization.” The comments by the powerful leader of the WHO were the first cracks in previously uncompromising rhetoric that no wrong decisions had been made. Mr Adhanom has faced sustained calls from all sides of the political spectrum to resign after he refused to call for early travel bans at the behest of Chinese information. The false information – that COVID-19 could not be transmitted from human-to-human contact – delayed the declaration of a global emergency by weeks and kept borders with China open to most countries. A Southampton study in the UK has revealed that if the WHO had asked countries to close borders one week earlier 66 per cent of deaths would not have happened. If it acted in early January, when it was first warned, 95 per cent of the deaths so far would not have happened. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also lambasted the WHO for endorsing the reopening of wet diseased markets despite one in Wuhan being the likely cause of COVID-19. However, the Coalition will not pull Australia’s funding from the WHO and instead will pressure the organisation for structural reforms to prevent further influence from China. Mr Adhanom maintained that his efforts to fight COVID-19 would be hampered by the withdrawal of US funding.
