WHO's Tedros pulls out of UK event after U.S. confirms to exit WHO

FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference organized by Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva Switzerland July 3, 2020. Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pulled out of a London event at the last minute on Wednesday after organisers said he had to attend meetings linked to the U.S. notification of its withdrawal from the WHO.

The event at London's Chatham House think tank had been due to feature Tedros in a live webinar about the COVID-19 pandemic led by David Heymann, a former senior WHO official and a professor of global health.

Heymann told the online event: "I have been in touch with his (Tedros') office on another issue (this morning), and I was told he has a series of diplomatic meetings today which is the result of the U.S. withdrawal."

FILE PHOTO: Director-General of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, attends a news conference on the coronavirus (COVID-2019) in Geneva, Switzerland February 24, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

Tedros' office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The United States confirmed on Tuesday that it will leave the WHO on July 6, 2021. U.S. President Donald Trump has accused the agency of becoming a puppet for China during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO denies this.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing on the U.S. economy and new U.S. employment and unemployment numbers in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 2, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo

(Reporting by Kate Kelland and Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Alison Williams and Timothy Heritage)