The United States has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The executive order signed by Donald Trump one year ago is now completed.
A senior official from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) justified the decision by stating that the WHO “strayed from its core mission and has acted contrary to the U.S. interests in protecting the U.S. public on multiple occasions.”
This refers to the WHO’s actions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Trump administration has retaliated agains the WHO by claiming that it unfairly criticized Trump for actions such as shutting down travel from certain foreign countries during the early days of the pandemic.
More importantly, the current presidential administration insists that the WHO delayed its response in declaring COVID-19 to be a global health emergency.
One other reason for the rupture is a motive which characterizes the current philosophy, mirroring what Trump said at Davos: “the U.S. has paid 100% of NATO costs”. By this logic, American contributions to the upkeep of the WHO are similarly inequitable. The HHS stressed that there has never been an American director-general of the WHO despite the amount of money the U.S. has contributed.
Obviously, push-back has been severe.
“The U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization is a shortsighted and misguided abandonment of our global health commitments. Global cooperation and communication are critical to keep our own citizens protected because germs do not respect borders,” Ronald Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told ABC News.
Nahass said withdrawal hinders U.S. efforts to surveil “emerging threats such as Ebola” or “the persistent burden of annual flu outbreaks.” He added that leaving the WHO will also impact the U.S.’s ability to match vaccines to circulating flu strains.
The HHS said there are no plans for the U.S. to even participate as an observer in WHO affairs, but expressed a vague admission of certain “plans” under work with organizations on surveillance, diagnostics and outbreak response.
The U.N. says that the U.S. currently owes more than $270 million to the WHO for 2024-2025.
Meanwhile, HHS says that the U.S. doesn’t have to pay that, as per the WHO’s constitution.
