A bat passes a virus to a human in China. Five months later, over 100,000 Americans are dead and 40 million are unemployed.
Finding the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) complicit in a coverup of data and “a puppet” of China, the American President, Donald Trump, announced on May 29, 2020, that the U.S. was “terminating our relationship” with the organization.
The president had already temporarily halted U.S. funding for the organization for 60 to 90 days to review the group’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which he said was severely mismanaged and covered up the spread of the coronavirus.
Who Cares?
What exactly does the W.H.O. do and, who cares if the U.S. remains a member?
It turns out the American Medical Association (AMA) cares. The Association immediately put out this statement:
“In the grip of a global pandemic that has already killed more than 100,000 Americans, severing ties with the World Health Organization serves no logical purpose and makes finding a way out of this public health crisis dramatically more challenging.”
“This senseless action will have significant, harmful repercussions now and far beyond this perilous moment, particularly as the W.H.O. is leading worldwide vaccine development and drug trials to combat the pandemic. COVID-19 affects us all and does not respect borders; defeating it requires the entire world working together.”
“In the strongest terms possible, the American Medical Association urges the President to reverse course and not abandon our country’s leadership position in the global fight against COVID-19.”
Spine Surgeons – Mixed Sentiments
We asked our good friend and spine surgeon, Izzy Lieberman, M.D., of the Texas Back Institute, if he cared. Lieberman knows about world health, having spent 15 years building the Uganda Spine Mission Program and delivering health care services to those most in need and least able to afford it.
“Yes, I do care, but it is with mixed sentiments. The W.H.O. exists to ‘improve people’s lives, to reduce the burden of disease, and to provide access to responsive health care for all people’.”
“I have experienced both the positive and the negative of this mission. On the one hand I agree there must be some guiding regulations by which to provide health care to the less fortunate, however some of the restrictions are actually precluding the delivery of care. For example, restrictions on expiry dates for medical devices and pharmaceuticals, many devices and medications that could provide lifesaving care are wasted by too stringent a regulatory process.”
“I do not feel that the U.S. involvement or lack thereof will make any change in the W.H.O.’s ability to maintain its mandate, I do not feel that the U.S. involvement or lack thereof will have any direct impact on the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission.”
“The only reason I can think of for the U.S. to stay in the W.H.O. would be to continue supporting the planet as a gesture of goodwill and provider of expertise.”
