Brazil, Alleging Budget Restraints, Suspends W.H.O. Funding

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Following the lead of Donald Trump’s USA, Brazil has now also withdrawn from contributing to international pandemic control. The Jair Bolsonaro government has suspended its contributions to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.). “Brazil has left its 2019 and 2020 dues unpaid,” reports the Brazilian news portal UOL.

While the USA and Brazil report the highest numbers of Covid-19 infections in the world, they fail to support international pandemic control. With outstanding contributions to the W.H.O. amounting to US$32 million, Brazil is the second-largest defaulter with the UN authority after the USA, which owes US$200 million.

The two countries are responsible for a much of this year’s US$310 million deficit in the W.H.O. budget, thus contributing to the organization’s financial crisis during the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, October 12th, W.H.O. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appealed “explicitly to the major powers” to recognize their role in fighting the pandemic.

While the United States suspended payments because it accused the W.H.O. head of having been “bought” by China, which was supposedly enforcing its own economic interests through the back door, Brazil’s Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes refers rather to a tight budget. “The budgets of recent years did not accommodate all our commitments to the more than 100 international institutions with which Brazil is associated,” says Guedes.

In fact, under left-wing President Dilma Rousseff, Brazil was also in default during the financial crisis. But the Rousseff government never cast doubt on its intention to meet its international obligations. Bolsonaro, however, is taking a different stance in this respect. He accuses the W.H.O. of not having done enough to prevent the spread of the pandemic – while at the same time, he suspends support without notifying the W.H.O. or the public.

Contributions are not voluntary. Each W.H.O. member nation undertakes to pay an annual contribution based on the size of its economy and national budget. The organization’s regulations state that a government loses its right to vote on W.H.O. decisions if it fails to pay its dues for a period of more than two years.

Source: UOL