WHO regrets Trump’s decision to withdraw; hopes US will reconsider

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday expressed regret over the decision of US President Donald Trump to walk out of the global health body, and hoped the administration will reconsider it.  

“The World Health Organization regrets the announcement that the United States of America intends to withdraw from the Organization,” the WHO said in a statement.

The agency noted that it "hopes the US will reconsider” the decision, “for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe”.

Shortly after his inauguration to a second term, Trump signed the executive order on the withdrawal stating that the WHO mishandled the Covid pandemic and that the agency required "unfairly onerous payments" from the US that were disproportionate to the sums provided by other, larger countries, such as China.

The WHO said it played a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the world’s people, including Americans.

This was achieved by targeting “the root causes of disease, building stronger health systems, and detecting, preventing, and responding to health emergencies”.

Notably, the US was a founding member of WHO in 1948. The country is an active participant in the World Health Assembly and Executive Board, alongside 193 other Member States.

The WHO noted that in the last 70 years, “WHO and the US have saved countless lives and protected Americans and all people from health threats”.

“Together, we ended smallpox, and together we have brought polio to the brink of eradication,” the health agency said that American institutions have both contributed and benefited from membership of the WHO.

“With the participation of the US and other Member States, WHO has over the past 7 years implemented the largest set of reforms in its history, to transform our accountability, cost-effectiveness, and impact in countries. This work continues,” the UN health body said.

Meanwhile, several global health experts have expressed their concerns about the executive order by Trump to withdraw from the WHO. This means “all personnel and contractors will be stopped. Withdraw from the pandemic treaty negotiations. Anyone cheering this has no idea of global health,” said Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans, from the Erasmus University in the Netherlands, in a post on social media platform X.

Vaccine researcher Prof Peter Hotez called the decision “disappointing”.

“This will weaken our nation’s biosecurity/pandemic preparedness at a time when pathogens like H5N1, SARS-like CoVs, dengue/arboviruses accelerating because of climate change/urbanisation,” said Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center, on X.