World Health Organization puts politics above the coronavirus fight in Somaliland
The outbreak of Coronavirus has scourged the world since December 2019. The communist Chinese government concealed the severity of the coronavirus outbreak; they were slow to share with the rest of the world the spread of the virus and its transmission.
The World Health Organization (WHO) colluded with communist China by covering up the threat of the virus. The head of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, a former member of Ethiopia’s regime, was pandering to China when he said in late January: “Chinese government is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak.”
In fact, on Jan. 30, Dr. Tedros said that “WHO does not recommend limiting trade and movement” to China. This recommendation plus the stranglehold China has on the Ethiopian economy, has resulted in Ethiopian Airlines to continue to fly daily to five Chinese cities, despite knowing it could bring more potential coronavirus infected people to Africa from China. The Ethiopian regime is recklessly putting its narrow political and economic interests above the health and safety of millions of Africans.
So far, Somaliland ( the de-facto state in Africa that separated itself from Somalia after a civil war in 1991) has a total of five confirmed cases of the coronavirus: One of the infected people is a Chinese national brought to Africa by Ethiopian Airlines, the largest airline on the continent.
To contain the spread of the pandemic, the Somaliland government has setup a national task force to coordinate the coronavirus response, headed by Vice President Mr. Abdurahman Zaylici, and has mobilized community, business and religious leaders.
Somaliland is not a member of the highly politicized WHO, because the United Nations still clings to the fiction that Somaliland is a part of chaotic Somalia. Because of that Somaliland is not able to sit at the table even with observer status at WHO meetings and gatherings to receive information and assistance it needs to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Somaliland has still no capacity to test the virus. By denying Somaliland to be a member of the WHO, this puts the lives of 4 million Somalilanders at risk.
Without diplomatic recognition, Somaliland lacks the resources to fend itself from the brunt of the coronavirus. The fledgling democratic Somaliland was recovering from decades of war and instability, has an under-funded and ill-equipped health care system, and lacks basic health infrastructure– test kits and essential gear to fight the pandemic.
Therefore, the people are practicing social distancing and quarantining, to contain the deadly virus in order to avoid unnecessary hospitalization of coronavirus patients.But, it’s appalling for the UN and its agencies like the WHO to put the diplomatic status of Somaliland above the fight against coronavirus pandemic.
For instance, the Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack MA donated test kits and equipment intended for Africa, which landed in Addis Ababa. These materials were distributed to neighboring countries of the Horn of Africa, except for Somaliland.
Finally, Somaliland leaders are pleading from the rest of the world for help and assistance— test kits and the capacity to test the virus now. If we’re really serious about fighting the pandemic, Somaliland has to be a member of the WHO, and it should not matter if that decision insults the leaders of an inherently unstable Somalia and its backers at the UN.
This is a global pandemic and it requires global efforts, because as Dr. Tedros says, coronavirus “knows no borders.”
Editor, Gubanmedia.com
