The head of the World Health Organisation has given a strident defence of his agency's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, in response to US President Donald Trump's suggestions that Washington could review its funding for the agency.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday called for unity and a halt to "politicisation" of the global health crisis, specifically urging China and the United States to show "honest leadership".
Tedros said he expected US funding to continue with traditional bipartisan support.
Trump and his administration repeated its criticism, on Wednesday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was re-evaluating US funding to the body, saying international organisations utilizing US taxpayer money needed to deliver on their goals.
But he objected to a leadership change at the WHO at this time.
US contributions to the WHO in 2019 exceeded $US400 million ($A643 million), almost double the second-largest country donor. The WHO website shows the United States as its top donor, contributing nearly 15 per cent of the budget.
Trump told the daily White House briefing on the coronavirus that Beijing's payment was a small fraction of Washington's WHO contribution, and that was "not fair at all".
"So, we're going to do study, investigation. And we're going to make a determination as to what we're doing. In the meantime, we're holding back. We ... want to see."
Trump said the WHO issued a statement on Jan. 14 saying "there was no human-to-human transmission" and criticized him "very strongly" when he said he was going to shut down flights from China.
Tedros said the WHO had "kept the world informed about the latest data, information and evidence" and noted that Thursday would mark 100 days since China first notified the organisation of cases of "pneumonia with unknown cause" on December 31.
Tedros, a former foreign minister of Ethiopia, rejected Trump's suggestion that the WHO was "China-centric", saying: "We are close to every nation, we are colour-blind."
Tedros said his UN agency would conduct its usual assessment of its performance after the emergency and draw lessons about its strengths and weaknesses, adding: "We make mistakes like other human beings."
He summarised his advice as: "Please, unity at national level, no using COVID for political points. Second, honest solidarity at the global level. And honest leadership from the US and China."
Australian Associated Press
