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US President Donald Trump has halted all funding to the WHO from the United States, citing its handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the reason behind his decision. The President said the funding would be temporarily stopped for a period of 60 to 90 days pending a review, and said the organisation had “failed in its basic duty” in its response to the outbreak.

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Which countries fund the WHO? The WHO is funded by a combination of member states, who pay fees based on wealth and population, and voluntary contributions. The WHO currently has 194 member states across the world. The organisation relies on contributions from renowned scientists and medical professionals to inform the work they do. WHO is also involved in vaccination campaigns, health emergencies and supporting countries in primary medical care. The United States is the largest single contributor to the organisation and provided one percent of its budget in 2018/19 by donating over $400million (£319million). DON'T MISS: POLL: Are you worried about China's growing influence across the globe? VOTE HERE [POLL]

President Donald Trump stopped all the US's funding to the World Health Organisation

The WHO is funded by a number of different member states and organisations

READ MORE Coronavirus could hit US and Europe FOUR times Other countries that contribute are: Belgium

France

Canada

Luxembourg

The Netherlands

Poland

Portugal

Saudi Arabia

Slovenia

Why has the US stopped funding? President Trump said he would stop the funding as a result of the way the pandemic has been handled by the WHO. He accused the organisation of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the spread of the virus after it first emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. President Trump said the WHO must be held to account for pedalling “disinformation” about the virus and claimed the virus could have been contained at the source if the organisation had better investigated the earliest reports. Speaking at a press conferenced at the White House on Tuesday, April 14, he said: “I am directing my administration to halt funding while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organisation’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus responded to the move at a news briefing on Wednesday. He said: "We regret the decision of the president of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organisation. "The United States of America has been a longstanding and generous friend to WHO and we hope it will continue to be so." Dr Tedros said the WHO is "assessing" the impact on its funding and "we will try to fill any gaps with partners." He declined to provide more details on the impact, citing an assessment first needs to take place.

President Trump cited the WHO's 'mismanagement' of the crisis as the reason for his actions