EDITORIAL-SG: The Straits Times says- Blame game must take a backseat

Blame game must take a backseat

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United States President Donald Trump has attracted widespread criticism for his decision last week to withhold funds from the World Health Organisation. He has alleged that the WHO failed in its basic duty to convey timely information about the coronavirus while it willingly took China’s assurances at face value and pushed China’s misinformation. Mr Trump also announced a review into whether the WHO was responsible for severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the virus. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates are among many who sprang to the defence of the WHO, the 72-year-old multilateral institution that has the mandate to summon information from and share best practices with member nations on the pandemic.

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The perilous war against a highly infectious virus, for which no treatment and no vaccine exist, has tested mankind’s ingenuity and bared limitations. The WHO has been criticised for prematurely broadcasting the idea that there was no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. Its chief, Mr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a former Ethiopian health minister, has been faulted for upholding China’s approach despite reports that Chinese officials silenced whistle-blowers who had tried to sound the alarm in the early phase of the outbreak. He also appears to have condoned Beijing’s delay in letting WHO experts visit Wuhan, where the outbreak began. China has been praised for publishing the genetic sequence of the virus, which is vital for swift diagnosis of cases, and for sharing its expertise as well as supplies of masks, test kits and protective gear with other countries.

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Mr Trump has taken flak in equal measure. Although he claims credit for decisive actions, including a ban on flights and travellers from China to curb the spread of the virus, the American media has described the White House’s approach as complacent and erratic. Nearly two-thirds of respondents in a new Pew survey say that Mr Trump was too slow to respond to the crisis. Critics see Mr Trump’s targeting of the WHO and China as an attempt to obscure his own lapses.

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There can be no doubt that unhealthy practices everywhere must be ended and the necessity for accountability is unquestionable. That alone will ensure that the world is not found wanting again. But right now, the global house is on fire. More than 160,000 people have died and over two million sickened by Covid-19. Hospitals are heaving and economies stalling as more than half of the world shelters in lockdowns of varying intensity. It is clear where attention and resources must be deployed. Great power rivalry and clashes of ideology must take a backseat. A constructive, rather than combative, approach will serve everyone best.