KUALA LUMPUR – US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organisation (WHO). The move has been criticised by public health experts as a severe blow to global health efforts and US leadership in the field.
According to the New York Times, this decision comes with accusations of the WHO’s “mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic” and “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms.” Trump also cited “unfairly onerous payments” the US contributes compared to other nations like China.
This marks the second time Trump has ordered the US to be pulled out of the WHO. Previously, the US president initiated withdrawal during the Covid-19 pandemic, accusing the organisation of being “China-centric” in its handling of the outbreak.
However, this move was blocked by his successor, Joe Biden, on the first day of his presidency in 2021.
The executive order, signed shortly after Trump’s inauguration, described the WHO’s inability to demonstrate independence from political influence as another key reason for the withdrawal.
“Oooh, that’s a big one,” Trump remarked as he signed the order in the Oval Office, BBC reported.
“They wanted us back so badly so we’ll see what happens,” he added cryptically, suggesting a potential future return.
“World Health ripped us off. Everybody rips off the United States, and that’s it. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said as quoted by Anadolu Agency.
According to BBC, Ashish Jha, a former Covid-19 response coordinator under Biden, warned that leaving the WHO would “harm not only the health of people around the world but also US leadership and scientific prowess.”
Similarly, Lawrence O. Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University, described the withdrawal as “a grievous wound to world health, but a still deeper wound to the US,” New York Times reported.
Founded in 1948 with substantial help from the United States, the WHO is a United Nations agency tasked with addressing global health challenges, such as providing aid to war-torn areas and tracking epidemics like Zika, Ebola, and Covid-19.
The US has traditionally been the largest funder of the WHO, contributing nearly one-fifth of its US$6.8 billion annual budget in 2023.
Under US law, a withdrawal requires a year’s notice and the fulfilment of financial obligations for the current fiscal year. – January 21, 2025