Will the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the continent's highest health authority, suspend its operations? Or will it be forced to drastically reduce its operations? PAHO's future will be decided very soon. During the last meeting of the Executive Committee on June 23, Dr. Clarissa Etienne expressed her concern about the unprecedented financial crisis the organization is facing.
According to its financial states, the member countries have an accumulated debt of US$ 162 million, corresponding to the contributions that 15 of them have failed to make for several consecutive years, led by the United States with 67% of the debt, followed by Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile.
Added to this are the attacks by U.S. President Donald Trump and his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro, who have questioned the legitimacy of the World Health Organization (WHO), represented in the Americas by PAHO, to intervene in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in their countries. This tension was formalized with the official withdrawal of the United States from the WHO on July 7, which it accuses of having an ideological bias in favor of China's geopolitical interests.
