Bill Gates has condemned Donald Trump for the decision to suspend World Health Organisation (WHO) funding during a worldwide pandemic, saying the move is “as dangerous as it sounds”.

The Microsoft founder used Twitter to warn against the sudden withdrawal of millions of dollars in US support per year.

Mr Gates said on Wednesday: “Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds. Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organisation can replace them. The world needs the WHO now more than ever.”

President Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration would not continue to support the WHO, pending a White House investigation into the body’s management of the coronavirus pandemic.

That comes as Mr Trump has defended his management of the health crisis, which has now seen over 615,000 Americans infected with the coronavirus and 26,061 deaths.

“The reality is the WHO failed to obtain, vet and share information in a timely fashion,” said Mr Trump. “The WHO failed in its basic duty and must be held accountable.”

The US president added that the WHO did not declare a world health emergency in time, whilst aiding a Chinese government “cover up”.

“Through the middle of January, it parroted and publicly endorsed the idea that there was not human to human transmission happening, despite reports and clear evidence to the contrary,”

The Trump administration’s account appeared to contradict the WHO timeline of events. According to Jeremy Konyndyk, the former head of the US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), WHO officials reported on January 23rd that human-to-human transmission was happening in China.

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Mr Konyndyk added on Twitter that it was “lunacy” to blame the WHO for White House mistakes. “This is not about WHO's culpability or need for reform; it's about creating a scapegoat for the United States government’s own ineptness.”

On Wednesday, the former OFDA and USAid head warned that there was no real replacement for the WHO, of which the US is the largest financial contributor.

“WHO has technical capacity, credibility with health ministries, research expertise, legal authorities that don’t exist elsewhere. USG can’t just fund an NGO to pick up the slack instead.”