The African Union (AU) said it was “dismayed” after US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), while hoping that he will “reconsider his decision », According to a press release published Wednesday.
The chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, “was dismayed to learn of the US government’s announcement to withdraw from the WHO,” according to the statement. “Today, more than ever, the world depends on WHO to fulfill its mandate to ensure global public health security as a shared common good,” also said Moussa Faki Mahamat, who hopes that “the U.S. government will reconsider its decision to withdraw from this key global organization of which it is a founding member.” This decision is worrying on the continent, currently facing several epidemics, such as mpox and the Marburg virus.
“In Africa, the United States was an early and strong supporter of the creation of the Africa CDC, the African Union technical agency for public health emergencies that works with WHO and global members of the WHO to detect, prepare for, respond to and recover from pandemics,” the AU warned in particular. The decree signed by the American president, which he justifies by the gap in American and Chinese financial contributions, caused reactions around the world, the European Union saying it was “worried”, China affirming that “the role of “WHO must be strengthened, not weakened.”
The United States, which had already taken steps to leave the WHO during Mr. Trump’s first term in 2020, is the main donor and partner of this UN organization based in Geneva. By withdrawing from the organization, the United States will lose privileged access to important epidemic surveillance data, several experts have warned, which could harm the surveillance and prevention capabilities of health threats coming from the stranger.
-This withdrawal is all the more worrying as it comes at a time when the strong circulation of the avian flu virus in the United States is heightening fears of a next pandemic. The country recorded its first human death linked to the H5N1 virus in early January.
Sami Nemli with agencies / Les Inspirations ECO
