She said in a virtual briefing that the United States provides 60 percent of the WHO's regional branch, the Washington-based Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), which she heads. The Geneva-based WHO was founded in 1948 and Etienne said US ties with PAHO go back further to its founding in Washington in 1902. "The United States has a long been PAHO's largest financial supporter and an important partner as well," Etienne said. PAHO incident manager Sylvain Aldighieri said the agency was very concerned about the rapid spread of the virus among indigenous tribes of the Amazon. He called for greater surveillance of remote communities with little access to healthcare and threatened by illegal gold miners who could spread the virus.

Source: bd News24 June 03, 2020 02:26 UTC