People have been questioning Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) for being too close to and too supportive of the Chinese Communist Party on the issue of the coronavirus outbreak.
#1: U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) introduced a resolution, calling on Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of WHO, to retract “highly misleading statements of support for the response of the Government of the People’s Republic of China.”
On March 19, 2020, Dr. Ghebreyesus tweeted: “For the first time, #China has reported no domestic #COVID19 cases yesterday. This is an amazing achievement, which gives us all reassurance that the #coronavirus can be beaten.”
The lawmakers also flagged comments he made in January, praising the China’s commitment and “transparency.”
“We appreciate the seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak, especially the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated, including sharing data and genetic sequence of the virus,” Ghebreyesus said. “WHO is working closely with the government on measures to understand the virus and limit transmission. WHO will keep working side-by-side with China and all other countries to protect health and keep people safe.”
#2: The National Interest reported that back in 2017, a group of American doctors accused Ghebreyesus of failing to investigate outbreaks of cholera in Sudan, which neighbors Ethiopia. Sudanese leaders classified the outbreak as “acute watery diarrhea” rather than cholera, which is caused by a bacteria found in unsanitary drinking water.
The doctors wrote in a letter to Ghebreyesus: “Your silence about what is clearly a massive cholera epidemic in Sudan daily becomes more reprehensible. The inevitable history that will be written on this epidemic will surely cast you in an unforgiving light.” They said that Ghebreyesus was “fully complicit in the terrible suffering and dying that continues to spread.”
#3: A petition, titled “Call for the resignation of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General” was posted on change.org. 680,165 people had signed by end of 3/31/2020 (US Eastern Time).
Related posting on Chinascope:
Sources:
1. Fox, March 28, 2020
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lawmakers-who-chief-to-retract-pro-china-comments-coronavirus
2. Twitter
For the first time, #China has reported no domestic #COVID19 cases yesterday. This is an amazing achievement, which gives us all reassurance that the #coronavirus can be beaten. https://t.co/py3Ka2cbLK
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 20, 2020
3. National Interest, March 24, 2020
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/fully-complicit-terrible-suffering-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus-blamed-2017-cholera
4. Change.org
https://www.change.org/p/united-nations-call-for-the-resignation-of-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus-who-director-general?signed=true