Coronavirus: African leaders stand up for WHO, Tedros after criticism from Donald Trump

African Union ‘extends its unwavering support to the WHO and its director general’, chairman and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says

‘With Covid-19, we are in an existential battle, requiring global solidarity,’ Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari says

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South African President and African Union chairman Cyril Ramaphosa said the AU extended its “unwavering support to the WHO and its director general”. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:15pm, 9 Apr 2020Updated: 12:08am, 10 Apr 2020

African countries have thrown their weight behind the World Health Organisation and its leader after US President Donald Trump accused the agency of being too China-centric in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The African Union (AU) on Wednesday commended the WHO for its “good work” in dealing with the global health crisis, after Trump accused it and its director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of being too lenient on China, and threatened to suspend future funding.

AU chairman Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement that the union, which represents 55 member states, “extends its unwavering support to the WHO and its director general”.

The world’s focus should be on fighting Covid-19, he said, which as of Thursday had infected more than 1.5 million people around the world and killed over 88,000.

Ramaphosa, who is also president of South Africa, said nations should work together to confront their common enemy and “should not allow ourselves to be distracted by anything else”.

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