The United States said on Thursday that it has withdrawn from the World Health Organization, nearly a year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin the process.
The US Department of State said the action “responds to the WHO’s failures during the Covid-19 pandemic and seeks to rectify the harm from those failures inflicted on the American people”.
Shortly after being sworn in for his second term as US president, Trump, on January 20, 2025, signed an order withdrawing his country from the WHO, citing alleged mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic by the global health agency.
The previous Trump administration had taken steps to withdraw from the organisation in 2020 and had suspended funding to it. However, after taking charge as the 46th US president in 2021, Joe Biden reversed the withdrawal.
After Trump’s executive order last year, the international health agency had said it “regrets the announcement”.
On Thursday, Washington claimed that the WHO had “abandoned its core mission and acted repeatedly against the interests of the United States”.
“Although the United States was a founding member and the WHO’s largest financial contributor, the organization pursued a politicized, bureaucratic agenda driven by nations hostile to American interests,” Washington alleged.
It added: “In doing so, the WHO obstructed the timely and accurate sharing of critical information that could have saved American lives and then concealed those failures under the pretext of acting ‘in the interest of public health’.”
The statement came even as the international health agency said that the US owes it more than $130 million, reported AP.
Responding to this, the Department of State alleged that the WHO had “tarnished and trashed everything that America has done for it” and refused to hand over the American flag that hung in front of it, arguing it had not approved the withdrawal.
“Going forward, US engagement with the WHO will be limited strictly to effectuate our withdrawal and to safeguard the health and safety of the American people,” the department added. “All US funding for, and staffing of, WHO initiatives has ceased.”
After Trump’s executive order last year, the WHO had said that the US was a founding member of the organisation in 1948 and has participated in shaping and governing its work ever since, alongside 193 other member states.
“We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership between the USA and WHO, for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe,” it added.
Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist of the WHO, had said that the US’ withdrawal will have a “definite impact” on the management of future pandemics.
“Health emergencies due to emerging and existing pathogens can arise in any part of the world and travel quickly,” Swaminathan said. “We need to work together on early warning systems.”
Swaminathan suggested that instead of leaving, the focus should be on addressing issues for the future.
She also warned that the US would lose access to global health data and diminish its influence in shaping the global health agenda by exiting the WHO.
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