Photo taken on Jan. 30, 2020 shows the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland.(Xinhua/Chen Junxia)

The European Union is calling for a timely review of the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the World Health Organization's performance, Reuters reported Thursday. Such review could be conducive, especially to the world's response to similar crises in the future.

Some would take the EU's resolution, to be debated by WHO health ministers meeting virtually on May 18-19, as a document to hold the UN health agency and China accountable for the pandemic. This is a malicious misinterpretation of the EU's real intention, which, according to the Reuters report, is to address the long-term consequences on health and "gaps in pandemic preparedness" and to underscore cooperation.

More than 3.7 million people around the world have tested positive for the coronavirus, which has already killed nearly 270,000. These are unbelievable numbers in a time of advanced healthcare technologies. It should have been avoided, but the problem was many countries didn't attach enough importance to the virus. 

The US, European countries, and other member states of the WHO delayed their response to COVID-19 despite early and repeated warnings by the agency. This is a painful lesson the world should draw from those mistakes. If the WHO needs reforms, it needs them to improve its effective response and increase the weight of its words among its members. As a premise, such reforms need active collaboration and trust from the agency's member states.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has promised a review of its performance after the pandemic eases. This doesn't mean that the pandemic can be politicized to stigmatize WHO.

Also the review of WHO's performance should not be based on preconceived notions that the virus originated from China. Jumping to such a wrong conclusion to scapegoat China and even WHO with groundless slander is irresponsible to all the people who suffered the virus.

The damage caused by the pandemic has made many realize the importance of global cooperation in handling such a crisis now and in the future. But to cooperate, stigmatization must be stopped with Western politicians involved correcting their attitude and recognizing other countries' sacrifices and contributions in this global fight against the virus.

China welcomes and has decided to be part of WHO's global collaboration initiative to accelerate the development and production of vaccines and drugs against COVID-19 and ensure their equitable distribution. 

China is also one of the countries and organizations that pledged $8 billion toward the research, manufacture and distribution of a possible vaccine and treatment for COVID-19, while the US has refused to contribute to the global effort. It is a pity the US didn't join in. But given what the US government has said and done in the past months, it is not surprising to see the world's most powerful country absent in this effort. Cooperation is probably the only way forward for the world. We hope the US realizes this as soon as possible.