President Trump signed a decree begin the process of withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization. It was among dozens of executive actions he signed after being sworn in Monday for a second term, on issues ranging from immigration has foreign policy has climate change.
It was the second time in less than five years that he ordered the country to withdraw from the organization, although many scientists fear the move could roll back decades of progress made in fighting infectious diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Experts also warn the move could weaken global defenses against dangerous new outbreaks that could trigger pandemics.
The WHO faced intense criticism from Mr. Trump in 2020 for his response At COVID-19 pandemic, which turned into a global health crisis in the final year of his first term, although his threat of withdrawal was not completed.
A White House statement Monday evening said the United States would withdraw “due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, of its failure to enact urgently needed reforms and its failure to demonstrate that the United States would withdraw.” independence from inappropriate political influence of WHO Member States.
It also accuses the WHO of demanding “unfairly onerous payments from the United States, well out of proportion to payments assessed by other countries.”
The order said Mr. Trump would send a presidential letter to the United Nations secretary-general formally informing him of the planned U.S. withdrawal.
The World Health Organization responded by calling on the US government to reconsider its decision to withdraw, saying in a statement statement that together they had “saved countless lives and protected Americans and everyone from health threats.”
The WHO also stressed that in recent years it had made “the largest set of reforms in its history.”
A US withdrawal from the organization would not only lead to its funding being cut next year – the US is its main ally. biggest donor — but the order also directs federal government personnel to stop working with the group — which is what U.S. health officials are doing on a wide range of health issues of global concern.
contributed to this report.