The World Health Organisation (WHO) Boss, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he had received death threats and racist insults since the outbreak of COVID-19 three months ago.
The Ethiopian born microbiologist and internationally recognised malaria researcher who became the health agency’s Director-General in 2017 made this known in a conference call while responding to a question about whether criticisms from world leaders during the pandemic makes it difficult for him to manage the WHO.
“I can tell you personal attacks that have been going on for more than two, three months. Abuses, or racist comments, giving me names, black or Negro. I’m proud of being black, proud of being a Negro.
“I don’t care, to be honest… even death threats. I don’t give a damn,” he said.
Mr. Ghebreyesus said the attacks came particularly from Taiwan and that the Taiwanese authorities overlooked it. He also described the statement attributed to two French scientists who had said the COVID-19 vaccine should be tested in Africa as ‘colonial mentality’ and an insult to ‘the whole black community.’
“Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan. We need to be honest. I will be straight today. From Taiwan. And Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry also, they know the campaign. They didn’t disassociate themselves. They even started criticizing me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didn’t care.”
But Taiwan, in its response, accused the WHO director of slander and demanded an apology. The country also claimed it was set up by ‘overseas forces.’
“There is a concern it is a deliberate operation by overseas falsely claiming to be Taiwanese and openly admitting to racist attacks on WHO Director-General Tedros and begging forgiveness damage our country’s international reputation,” it said in a statement.
Taiwan, which China claims for itself, is excluded from WHO because of China’s objection, according to Aljazeera.
The WHO denied claims by Taiwan’s government that its exclusion has prevented it from accessing data needed to save lives.
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