US Will Make One-Time $68 Million Disbursement to WHO for Aid to Middle East

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States will make a one-time disbursement of $68 million to the World Health Organization to support humanitarian efforts in the Middle East, US Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator for Global Health Alma Golden said during a conference call on Wednesday.

"We will make a one-time disbursement of up to $68 million to the WHO to support humanitarian health assistance in Libya and Syria", Golden said.

Golden explained that up to $44 million would go toward the eradication of polio, particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The State Department's Bureau of International Organization Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Nerissa Cook said during the conference call that the Trump administration will redirect $62 million in unused WHO funding to the United Nations to pay for other assessments.

The United States pulled out of the WHO earlier this year after claiming the body helped China conceal information about the origins of the novel coronavirus. The WHO said its 30 January emergency declaration gave the United States sufficient time to prepare while Beijing has said it has been transparent about the virus's origins.