The recently confirmed US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, addresses reporters during his first press conference at the State Department in Washington on January 27, 2021.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the United States will pay the more than $ 200 million it owes to the World Health Organization by the end of the month, a move that reaffirms the new government’s commitment with global health.
“This is an important step in meeting our financial obligations as a member of WHO and reflects our renewed commitment to ensuring that WHO has the support it needs to lead the global response to the pandemic, even as we work to reform it for the future. , “Blinken told the UN Security Council during a video conference.
“The United States will work with our partners around the world to expand manufacturing and distribution capacity and to increase access, including marginalized populations,” said Blinken, in his first speech since becoming the country’s top diplomat.
Blinken also asked his counterparts to fight misinformation about vaccines and to share with researchers any relevant information about the origins of the coronavirus.
“The ongoing expert investigation into the origins of this pandemic and the report that will be issued must be independent with findings based on science and facts and free from interference,” said Blinken. “To better understand this pandemic and prepare for the next one, all countries must make all data available from the first days of the outbreak,” he added.
Blinken’s comments come as President Joe Biden works to deal with the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 2.4 million lives worldwide and infected more than 109.6 million, according to figures compiled by Johns University Hopkins. In the United States, the coronavirus infected more than 27.7 million people and killed at least 488,295 people.
In one of his first acts as president, Biden rescinded former President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Geneva-based United Nations health organization.
In April, Trump said he suspended U.S. funding for the organization pending a review, citing what he called “the role of the World Health Organization in seriously managing and covering the spread of the coronavirus.”
A month later, he announced his intentions to remove the United States from the organization in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, citing what he called the misuse of WHO funding and its comfortable relationship with China.
“China has full control over the World Health Organization, despite paying only $ 40 million a year compared to what the United States has paid, which is approximately $ 450 million a year,” said Trump.
In July, the Trump administration presented its UN withdrawal notice to the UN Secretary-General by July 6, 2021.
In October, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he hoped the United States would reconsider its decision to leave WHO, adding that the coronavirus cannot be defeated “in a divided world”.
“The problem is not money. The problem is not financing. In fact, it is the relationship with the United States that is most important and its leadership abroad,” Ghebreyesus told a virtual audience at the Aspen Security Forum.