WHO agrees to independent probe into its coronavirus response

GENEVA • Member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday agreed to an independent probe into the UN agency's coronavirus response, as US criticism mounted over its handling of the pandemic.

Countries taking part in the WHO's annual assembly, being held virtually for the first time, adopted a resolution by consensus urging a joint response to the crisis.

The resolution, tabled by the European Union, called for an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the international response to the pandemic.

It said the investigation should include a probe of "the actions of WHO and their time-lines pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic".

The United States did not disassociate itself from the consensus as some had feared after Washington chastised the WHO on the first day of the assembly on Monday and lashed out further against China over its role in the outbreak.

President Donald Trump had threatened late on Monday to pull the US out of the WHO, accusing it of botching the global coronavirus response and of being a "puppet of China". As he launched his attack, Mr Trump also dropped a bombshell, saying he was taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that his own government's experts have said is not suitable for fighting the coronavirus.

"I take a pill every day," said Mr Trump, adding that he is doing so because he has "heard a lot of good stories".

His health secretary Alex Azar has insisted that the WHO's "failure" to obtain and provide vital information on Covid-19 had proved deadly.

In a video address to the WHO's assembly, Mr Azar demanded an independent review of "every aspect" of the UN health agency's response to the pandemic.

While WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday welcomed the call for a review, he insisted there was no need for a dramatic overhaul of the organisation.

What the global community needs to do, he said, is to "strengthen, implement and finance the systems and organisations it has - including WHO".

International cooperation should be a no-brainer during the pandemic, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday.

"The greatest act of courage is to play as a team," she told a virtual World Health Assembly in a comment apparently aimed at the US.

Yesterday's resolution at the WHO assembly - which is not binding and mentioned no countries by name - also called for nations to commit to ensuring "transparent, equitable and timely access" to any treatments or vaccines developed against Covid-19.

And it addressed the controversial issue of the origin of the virus, which first emerged in central China's Wuhan city late last year, urging the WHO to help investigate "the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS