Supporting WHO helps save more lives

BEIJING, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Supporting the World Health Organization (WHO) helps to save more lives and treat more patients, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Tuesday.

It enables a more effective response against the COVID-19 and is conducive to pooling global strength, Wang, also a state councilor, made the remarks when addressing the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Extraordinary Conference on COVID-19 via video link.

Wang stressed that the BRICS countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, must support UN bodies in playing their due roles in fighting COVID-19.

The WHO is a central force in coordinating the global response, and is indispensable for helping developing countries, especially our African brothers and sisters, in fighting the disease, said the foreign minister.

"At a crucial moment in humanity's joint fight against the virus, any attempt to undercut the WHO's authority and obstruct its role will be most ill-timed and will find no support in the international community," he said.

Wang said on top of paying its assessed contributions to the WHO on time and in full, China has recently donated a total of 50 million U.S. dollars to the WHO.

China will also provide financial support to the UN's Global Humanitarian Response plan, and do everything within its capacity to lessen the debt burden on African countries and assist them in boosting anti-epidemic capacity, he said.

"In view of the weaknesses and inadequacies exposed during the crisis, we also need to enhance global public health governance, make it a higher priority on the international agenda, and work together to build a community of health for all," he said.