US President Donald Trump's decision to suspend funding to the World Health Organization will blow a $553 million hole in its finances, equivalent to 14.6 percent of its budget
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2020) US President Donald Trump's decision to suspend funding to the World Health Organization will blow a $553 million hole in its finances, equivalent to 14.6 percent of its budget.
Trump accused the UN health agency on Tuesday of failing in its "basic duties" and again blamed it for peddling China's narrative on the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
Figures published on WHO's website show that the United States paid a total of $553 million in membership fees and voluntary donations from 2018-2019.
Of this sum, $101 million was spent on the WHO office in Geneva, $151 million on African programs and $201 million on Eastern Mediterranean programs. Most of the money was used to fund the global polio eradication initiative.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was the second biggest donor, contributing 9.76 percent of the biennial budget, followed by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization with 8.39 percent.
