RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro criticized the work of the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) in the pandemic and said the government could leave the agency, which he claimed was acting “with an ideological slant”. In late May, US President Donald Trump announced the country’s withdrawal from the W.H.O., freezing payments the US government would grant the organization.
“And I say here, the United States has left the W.H.O., and we will study it in the future; either the W.H.O. works with no ideological slant, or we will be out too. We don’t need anyone from the outside to have a say on health here,” said Bolsonaro to journalists at the Alvorada Palace gate on Friday night, June 5th.
The President mentioned the controversy caused by WHO research on hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of the novel coronavirus. “What is this W.H.O. for? A few days ago the W.H.O. recommended against proceeding with studies on hydroxychloroquine, and now it has reversed itself. All you have to do is take the cash away from them and they start thinking differently,” said Bolsonaro.
The WHO resumed studies with the drug this week, after a 10-day suspension of testing after reviewing an unsubstantiated study published by the medical-scientific journal The Lancet.
The World Health Organization is an international organization specialized in health, founded on April 7th, 1948, and subordinated to the United Nations (UN). Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. The WHO consists of 194 Member States and two associate members. In the case of Brazil, to join the organization, the country internally ratified an international treaty establishing the agency. A potential withdrawal from this treaty would have to pass through the National Congress.
Covid-19 data disclosure
During the interview, President Jair Bolsonaro also commented on the change in the schedule for the release of the daily updated balance of covid-19 infections and deaths by the Ministry of Health. Since last Wednesday, June 3rd, the portfolio has been disclosing the daily consolidated data at around 10 PM. Formerly, this disclosure occurred around 7 PM.
“The goal is to gather the most confirmed results and to disclose daily deaths. Yesterday, [some of] the dead were from preceding days. We may provide a balance for the past, but we must disclose the daily deaths,” said Bolsonaro, regarding the methodology adopted by the Ministry of Health.
In a press release, the Ministry said the numbers of Covid-19 cases and deaths caused by the disease are reported by state and municipal health departments to the Ministry of Health. The Ministry adds that it analyzes and consolidates the data and that in some cases “there is a need to check with local managers”.
“This way, the Ministry of Health has sought to adjust the disclosure of data, which are published daily on the platform covid.saude.gov.br,” the text highlights.
Source: Agência Brasil