US president says health agency failed to act independently from \u201cpolitical influence of WHO member states\u201d
\n NEW YORK\/GENEVA
\nThe United States will leave the World Health Organisation, President Donald Trump said on Monday, saying the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.
\nTrump said the WHO had failed to act independently from the \u201cinappropriate political influence of WHO member states\u201d and required \u201cunfairly onerous payments\u201d from the US that were disproportionate to the sums provided by other, larger countries, such as China.
\n\u201cWorld Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It\u2019s not going to happen anymore,\u201d Trump said at the signing of an executive order on the withdrawal, shortly after his inauguration to a second term.
\nThe WHO said on Tuesday that it regretted the move from its top donor country.
\n\u201cWe hope that the United States will reconsider, and we really hope that there will be constructive dialogue for the benefit of everyone, for Americans but also for people around the world,\u201d WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevi\u0107 told reporters in Geneva.
\nThe move sets a 12-month notice period for the US to leave the United Nations health agency and stop all financial contributions to its work. The United States is by far the WHO\u2019s biggest financial backer, contributing around 18% of its overall funding. WHO\u2019s most recent two-year budget, for 2024-2025, was $6.8 billion.
\nThe US departure is likely to put at risk programmes across the organisation, according to several experts both inside and outside the WHO, notably those tackling tuberculosis, the world\u2019s biggest infectious disease killer, as well as HIV\/AIDS and other health emergencies.
\nTrump\u2019s order said the administration would cease negotiations on the WHO pandemic treaty while the withdrawal is in progress. US government personnel working with the WHO will be recalled and reassigned, and the government will look for partners to take over necessary WHO activities, according to the order.
\nThe government will review, rescind, and replace the 2024 U.S. Global Health Security Strategy as soon as practicable, the order said.
\nThe next-largest donor to the WHO is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, although most of that funding goes to polio eradication. Its chief executive Mark Suzman said on X that the foundation would continue to make the case to strengthen not weaken the WHO. The next-largest state donor is Germany, which contributes around 3% of the WHO\u2019s funding. Germany\u2019s health minister said on Tuesday Berlin hoped to talk Trump out of the move.
\nWhen asked about Trump\u2019s decision and remarks, China\u2019s foreign ministry told a regular press briefing on Tuesday that the WHO\u2019s role in global health governance should only be strengthened, not weakened.
\n\u201cChina will continue to support the WHO in fulfilling its responsibilities, and deepen international public health cooperation,\u201d said Guo Jiakun, a ministry spokesperson.
\nTrump\u2019s withdrawal from the WHO is not unexpected. He took steps to quit the body in 2020, during his first term as president, accusing the WHO of aiding China\u2019s efforts to \u201cmislead the world\u201d about the origins of COVID.
\nWHO vigorously denies the allegation and says it continues to press Beijing to share data to determine whether COVID emerged from human contact with infected animals or due to research into similar viruses in a local laboratory.
\nUnder US law, leaving the WHO requires a one-year notice period, and the payment of any outstanding fees. Before the US withdrawal could be completed last time, Joe Biden won the presidential election and put a stop to it on his first day in office on Jan 20, 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US president says health agency failed to act independently from \u201cpolitical influence of WHO member states\u201d NEW YORK\/GENEVA The United States will leave the World Health Organisation, President Donald Trump said on Monday, saying the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises. Trump said the WHO had failed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-456879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n