WASHINGTON, 18 February, 2021 (TON): U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said, the United States will pay the more than $200 million it owes to the World Health Organization by the end of the month, a move that reaffirms the new administration’s commitment to global health.

“This is a key step forward in fulfilling our financial obligations as a WHO member and it reflects our renewed commitment to ensuring the WHO has the support it needs to lead the global response to the pandemic even as we work to reform it for the future,” Blinken told the U.N. Security Council during a videoconference.

Since becoming the nation’s top diplomat, Blinken stated, “The United States will work with our partners across the globe to expand manufacturing and distribution capacity and to increase access, including marginalized populations.”

 “The ongoing expert investigation about the origins of this pandemic and the report that will be issued must be independent with findings based on science and facts and free from interference,” Blinken said. “To better understand this pandemic and prepare for the next one, all countries must make available all data from the earliest days of the outbreak,” he added.

In April, Trump said he suspended U.S. funding to the organization pending a review, citing what he called “the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”

After taking the office as the President of the U.S., Biden rescinded former President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations’ health organization as one of his first acts.