The newly inaugurated president of the United States, Donald Trump, signed a decree this Monday night, a few moments after his inauguration, for the country to leave the World Health Organization (WHO)which he has previously attacked for its response to the covid-19 pandemic, which he had to face during his first term at the head of the nation.
Signing the decree at the White House, Trump said that his country unfairly pays more to the UN body than China and added that the WHO “scammed us.” The United States, the largest donor to the Geneva-based WHO, provides vital funding that maintains the organization’s various operations around the world.
His retirement is expected to lead to significant restructuring of the institution and could cause disruptions to global health initiatives.
In his decree, Trump instructs federal agencies to “pause future transfers of US Government funds, support or resources to the WHO”, and urges them to “identify credible and transparent US and international partners to take on the necessary activities previously undertaken by WHO.”
The new Trump administration also announced plans to review and rescind the Joe Biden administration’s health initiative known as the Global Health Security Strategy 2024, designed to respond to infectious disease threats, “as soon as possible.”
In Trump’s first term, the United States issued a notice of intent to withdraw from the WHO, by accusing the organization of being influenced by China in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The decision to leave (the WHO) “weakens US influence, increases the risk of a deadly pandemic and makes us more vulnerable,” Tom Frieden, a former senior health official in Barack Obama’s administration, criticized in X.
The country is going to lose privileged access to very important epidemiological surveillance data, as several experts have warned, which could undermine the capabilities of prevention and surveillance of health threats from abroad.
“Instead of being the first to receive vaccines, we will be in line. The withdrawal of the WHO opens a deep wound in the security of the United States and in our competitive advantage in terms of innovation,” he lamented in X.
This decision is even more worrying when the country is going through a strong outbreak of bird flu that aggravates fears about a next pandemic. In early January, the United States recorded its first case of human death related to the H5N1 virus.
