- Melinda Gates, the co-chair of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, pointed out that the decision to pull funding from the World Health Organization (WHO) is dangerous
Melinda Gates, the co-chair of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, pointed out that the decision to pull funding from the World Health Organization (WHO) is dangerous, especially as the world is facing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gates also announced that The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is going to provide an additional $150 million in funding to help speed up the development of a vaccine for COVID-19. This means that The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $250 million towards the pandemic so far.
“De-funding the WHO makes absolutely no sense during a pandemic. We need a global coordinated response,” said Gates in a telephone interview with Reuters. WHO is “exactly the organization that can deal with this pandemic,”
Gates is referring to President Donald Trump’s decision to halt U.S. funding to the WHO. President Trump accused WHO of failing in its basic duty to increase the awareness of a potential pandemic.
WHO’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the organization will be assessing the impact of the decision and will “try to fill any gaps with partners.” The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the second-largest funder of WHO after the U.S. government.
The money committed by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will also go towards helping poorer countries that have vulnerable populations as they deal with the pandemic as well.
“We really as a global community need to address what is now just beginning in African and South Asian countries. We see a huge need, and that’s why we have more than doubled our commitment,” added Gates via Reuters.
