US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to withdraw the United States from the WHO, a body he has previously sharply criticized for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Signatures galore. Barely inducted, American President Donald Trump signed a decree on Monday, January 20, aimed at withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), an organization that he had in the past strongly criticized for its management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The WHO defrauded us”accused the Republican when signing this decree, just a few hours after being inaugurated, justifying this withdrawal by the gap in American and Chinese financial contributions. “We paid $500 million to the World Health Organization when I was here and I ended it. They wanted us back so bad. We’ll see what happens,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s quite sad, though, think about it. China pays 39 million and we pay 500 million, and China is a bigger country.”
The United States, main donor
In this text, he urges federal agencies to “suspend the future transfer of any funds, support, or resources from the United States Government to the WHO” and enjoins them to “identify credible American and international partners” capable of “assuming activities previously undertaken by the WHO”.
In a long message published on X, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the agency, said he “regretted” the American withdrawal. “With the participation of the United States and other Member States, WHO has implemented the largest series of reforms in its history over the past seven years”he adds. “The United States was a founding member of the WHO in 1948 and has helped develop and direct the work of the organization ever since.”he recalls again.
The United States is the main donor and partner of this UN organization based in Geneva. According to the WHO, they contribute to its financing via a contribution indexed to their GDP, but also through voluntary contributions. Over the past decade, the United States has paid the WHO between $160 million and $815 million annually. The annual budget of the WHO is in the order of 2 to 3 billion dollars. The loss of U.S. funding could cripple many global health initiatives, including the polio eradication effort, maternal and child health programs and research to identify new viral threats.
-Many scientists fear the move will significantly reduce the progress made over decades in the fight against infectious diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
Pandemic risk
During his first term, Donald Trump had already tried to get the country out of this organization that he accused of being “controlled by China.” His successor Joe Biden, however, canceled this withdrawal before it came into force, with the UN providing for a delay of one year between the announcement and the actual exit.
“The decision to leave (the WHO) weakens America’s influence, increases the risk of a deadly pandemic and makes us all more vulnerable”castigated on X, Tom Frieden, former senior health official under the administration of Barack Obama.
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 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.
