WHO director asks US to continue collaboration

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said he wished a collaboration between the UN health body and the United States would continue after President Donald Trump said last week the US was terminating its relationship with the WHO.

"The world has long benefited from the strong, collaborative engagement with the government and the people of the United States," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference on Monday.

"The US governments and its people's contribution and generosity towards global health over many decades has been immense and it has made a great difference in public health all around the world. It is WHO's wish for this collaboration to continue," he added.

Trump said Friday that the WHO had failed to adequately respond to the coronavirus because China has "total control" over the global organization.

He said Chinese officials "ignored" their reporting obligations to the WHO and pressured the WHO to mislead the world when the virus was first discovered.

He noted that the US contributes about 450 million US dollars to the world body while China provides about 40 million US dollars.

The US is the largest source of financial support to the WHO and its exit is expected to significantly weaken the organization.

Meanwhile health officials have confirmed a second Ebola outbreak in Congo, the head of the World Health Organization said Monday, adding yet another health crisis for a country already battling COVID-19 and the world's largest measles outbreak.

Congo also has yet to declare an official end to Ebola in its troubled east, where at least 2,243 people have died since an epidemic began there in August 2018.

Now Congolese health authorities have identified six cases in the north near Mbandaka in Equateur province, including four fatalities, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday.

This marks the second time Ebola has hit Equateur province in as many years: A 2018 outbreak there killed 33 people before the disease was brought under control in a matter of months.