Washington, April 15: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates voiced his concern on Wednesday against United States President Donald Trump's tirade against the World Health Organisation (WHO). Describing WHO as the only global body poised to play a critical role in the fight against coronavirus, Gates said curtailing funds to the organisation amid the pandemic will be "dangerous". Trump Accuses WHO of 'Covering Up' the Spread of COVID-19, Halts Funding.

Instead of blaming the WHO for the alleged lack of efforts to prevent COVID-19 from turning into a pandemic, Gates said the UN body has played a crucial role in slowing down the spread of disease. The global philanthropist further added that no other organisation is equipped place the role which the WHO is currently discharging.

"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 organization can replace them. The world needs WHO more than ever," Gates said.

See Bill Gates' Tweet

Watch Trump's Statement on WHO

In his press briefing on Tuesday, President Trump marked his angst against the WHO, accusing it of discharging its role in an ineffective manner which led the COVID-19 to turn into a pandemic. He announced that the US would no longer continue its funding to the global health body, adding that a review is required to analyse whether WHO was transparent in releasing information related to the disease in its early stages.

WHO ended "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus", Trump said, while accusing the global health body of warning America and European nations against imposing a blanket travel ban on China. "The reality is that the WHO failed to adequately obtain, vet, and share information in a timely and transparent fashion," he added.

The United States is the worst-affected country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 614,000 infections and more than 26,000 deaths recorded. Globally, the disease has affected over two million persons, and claimed above 127,000 lives.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 15, 2020 04:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).