WHO chief Becerra press Congress to pass global virus aid

As lawmakers prepare to bypass town without offering any funding to President Biden’s latest plan to fight the virus abroad, the head of the World Health Organization has urged Congress to continue its support for vaccine programs and other global health efforts.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the United States for being the largest donor to the global vaccine sharing alliance COVAX, and said that continued help in the fight against the virus will benefit everyone, as well as efforts to address the war and climate change in Ukraine. .

“We continue to seek the support of the United States to end the pandemic globally and address the many other health-related challenges we face. “It’s in the US’s own interest to do that,” he said.

Mr. Becerra, Mr. Biden and their Democratic allies made the same points as they sought to secure funding from Congress to develop the global donation of more than 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

He said that without the funding, the US would not be able to provide testing kits, oxygen supplies and antiviral treatments to struggling countries.

“The United States was the first country in the world to donate a significant amount of our own vaccine supply to the world,” said Mr. Becerra. “It is in our national interest to vaccinate the rest of the world and protect against future variants.”

Senators recently signed a $10 billion deal to handle domestic virus financing, but that is in limbo due to controversy over Mr Biden’s decision to lift border security measures designed to combat the virus. The bilateral agreement did not include any of the $5 billion that Mr. Biden had requested for international virus aid.

Tedros added that Congress would set a good example for other countries by ratifying a $15 billion package. “I expect a good result. We hope that the management will get the necessary support,” he said.

Mr. Becerra said that in the US, a healthcare provider relief fund is no longer accepting requests from healthcare providers providing COVID-19 treatments and testing. He also said the US government may be “behind the line” in the global market for breakthrough treatments.

The secretary said the agency could spend the remaining money, but the government could not stay ahead of the curve later this year. The US remains wary of new variants and is gearing up for additional support campaigns.

“Everyone has a role, we hope everyone will fulfill their responsibility,” Mr. Becerra said. “Failure is not an option here. I don’t think anyone would want to go back to quarantine and watch their loved ones pass. [while] not being there for them when they need it most. We can’t go back to that.”

Mr. Biden marked World Health Day with his defense to Congress on Thursday. He said the US has shipped more than 516 million COVID-19 vaccines to other countries and promised 700 million more by the end of the year, but wants to do more.

“We have to keep up the fight. We have more work ahead of us and Congress must continue to fund our fight against COVID-19 at home and abroad,” he said.

Mr. Tedros said he was unable to meet with Mr. Biden during his trip due to scheduling conflicts, but he did not take it lightly and hopes to meet with him in the future.

Still, the WHO chief’s visit with senior US officials was in notable contrast to the previous administration.

In early 2020, former President Donald Trump took action to sever the US’s ties with the WHO, saying he had dropped the ball in understanding the extent of the COVID-19 crisis and was being too candid with China. He said the United States should not have to fund an underserved organization.

Mr. Biden rejoined WHO as soon as he took office.

Also Thursday, Mr. Becerra and Mr. Tedros condemned Russia’s attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine, including maternity wards and children’s hospitals.

The WHO chief said there were 103 attacks on healthcare, 73 killed and 51 injured, including healthcare workers and patients.

“We are outraged that attacks on healthcare continue,” said Mr Tedros. “We’ve passed a terrible milestone of over 100 attacks.”

He also said that WHO should evaluate the Russian Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 for emergency use authorization, but inspections were delayed due to the invasion of Ukraine.