US President Donald Trump has ordered that his country’s payments to the World Health Organisation be halted.
Trump in a broadcast said that the global health body had “failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable” for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
He blamed the group for promoting China’s “disinformation” about the virus in the days following the initial outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The virus – which has infected more than two million people worldwide – could have been contained at its source if the WHO had been better at investigating the initial reports that came from China, Mr Trump said.
He, however, added that the US will continue to engage with the organisation to pursue what he described as meaningful reforms..
