MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2020) Moscow is concerned about attempts to defame the World Health Organization (WHO), it is necessary to improve its activities instead of destroying the body, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an article for China's Global Times newspaper.
"The steps to defame the World Health Organization, which - and in this respect the overwhelming majority of states are unanimous - has been at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus from the very first days, helping all countries to navigate the rapidly changing epidemiological environment and choose the right ways to respond to the emerging threat, cause our deep concern," Lavrov wrote.
"Certainly, the WHO, like any multilateral structure, should improve its activities, adapt to new conditions. To do this, it is necessary not to destroy the Organization, but to maintain a constructive dialogue of all member states to develop joint professional responses to new challenges," he said.
Earlier in May, US President Donald Trump said in a letter to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Trump blames the organization for failing to properly contain, that the United States would completely stop funding the WHO unless it committed to major improvements within 30 days.
The WHO declared the outbreak of the new coronavirus a pandemic on March 11. According to the global health body, the coronavirus death toll worldwide has surpassed 349,000 people, with the number of cases worldwide exceeding 5,488,000.
In line with Johns Hopkins University's data, the global case tally tops 5,685,000, with over 354,000 deaths and more than 2,347,000 recoveries.
