Geneva: The World Health Organization's chief hit back Monday at US President Donald Trump's reasons for pulling the United States out of the WHO -- and again urged Washington to reconsider.
The United States is by far the WHO's biggest donor and its withdrawal will leave a major hole in the organisation's budget and its ability to respond to global public health threats.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus went through, in turn, the reasons given by Trump's executive order to withdraw from the organisation, signed within hours of his return to office on January 20, and outlined what the UN health agency was doing in each field.
"We regret the decision and we hope the US will reconsider," Tedros told the opening of the WHO's executive board meeting.
