President Donald Trump initiates the process to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), fulfilling a pre-election pledge. This move comes amid ongoing criticism of WHO's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the first day of his second presidential term, President Donald Trump announced his intention to terminate U.S. membership in the World Health Organization. This move fulfills a pre-election promise to withdraw from the organization. In one of many orders issued after his inauguration, he initiated the process for withdrawing U.S. membership from the U.N. agency responsible for overseeing global health issues. Trump's dissatisfaction with WHO dates back to the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He repeatedly criticized the organization for its perceived slow response to the global health crisis and its perceived bias towards China.Trump's frustration with WHO stems from its initial handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He accused the organization of downplaying the severity of the virus and promoting misinformation about its origins. He also criticized WHO's close ties to China, alleging that the organization was beholden to Beijing's interests.It will take a year for Trump's pledge to become official. This is the timeframe the U.S. set for any future withdrawal when it joined the global health body in 1948. In 2020, Trump halted funding to WHO and initiated the withdrawal process. However, before the one-year mark was reached, Biden took office and reversed course immediately. The U.S. provided $1.284 billion to WHO during 2022 and 2023 – hundreds of millions of dollars more than Germany, the second-largest donor. Critics of Trump's decision believe that the U.S. will face significant consequences. WHO monitors global health threats, evaluates new vaccines and medications, coordinates responses to emerging health crises, and provides expert support to countries, particularly during health emergencies. The U.S. would lose easy access to critical data on outbreaks and a seat at the table when health standards are set and disease responses are decided. Lawrence Gostin, professor of global health law at Georgetown University and director of WHO's Center on Global Health Law, stated that withdrawing from WHO would be 'a grave wound to American national interests and our national security. This will really leave our agencies – like the CDC and NIH flying blind.' Dr. Helene Gayle, president and CEO of the Global Health Council, a nonpartisan group that advocates for global health, said that withdrawing is 'really bad for the U.S. access to data, to surveillance, to being at the table negotiating and holding other countries accountable when there is an epidemic or pandemic.'Speaking to NPR last week about the prospect of withdrawal, she warned that 'Other countries with a lot of power — China, Russia — other powers that want to shape the WHO, would take opportunity to do so.' Dr. Mark Thiessen, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, argued that there are other ways the Trump Administration can lead in the global health arena after leaving WHO. 'There's hardly a lack of precedent for maybe addressing pandemic issues outside of the WHO,' he said, speaking to NPR before the announcement was made. 'There's a reason why UNAIDS exists, and there's a reason why GAVI exists, and there's a reason why the Global Fund exists — and that's because the WHO has, in the past, not been seen as either the most effective or the most responsive vehicle for addressing various international health concerns.'
DONALD TRUMP WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION WITHDRAWAL COVID-19 GLOBAL HEALTH
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