Trump orders the United States to leave the World Health Organization

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Oooh, that’s a big deal,” the newly inaugurated US president said as he approved the document after returning to the White House. It was one of dozens of executive actions he signed on his first day in office.

This is the second time that Trump has ordered the United States to leave the WHO.

Trump criticized the way the international organization handled Covid-19 and began the process of leaving the Geneva-based institution during the pandemic. President Joe Biden later reversed that decision.

Carrying out this executive action on day one makes it more likely that the United States will formally leave the global agency.

“They wanted us to come back so bad, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said in the Oval Office, referring to the WHO, perhaps hinting that the United States could return eventually.

The order said the United States was withdrawing “due to the organization’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic that emerged from Wuhan, China and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its failure to demonstrate independence of inappropriate measures”. political influence of WHO member states”.

The executive order also said the withdrawal was the result of “unfairly onerous payments” the United States made to the WHO, which is part of the United Nations.

When Trump was still in office the first time, he criticized the organization for being too “China-centric” in its approach to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trump accused the WHO of being biased toward China in the way it issued guidelines during the outbreak.

Under the Biden administration, the United States remained the WHO’s largest funder, providing nearly a fifth of the agency’s budget in 2023.

The organisation’s annual budget is $6.8bn (£5.5bn).

Funding is likely to disappear almost immediately, and it’s unclear whether other nations will step forward to fill the gap.

A US withdrawal could have an impact on the WHO’s ability to respond to emergencies like an Ebola or MPOX outbreak, let alone another Covid-19-style pandemic.

Public health experts have suggested there could be other consequences for Americans’ health if progress in fighting infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS is reversed.

Ashish Jha, who previously worked as Covid-19 response coordinator under Biden, previously warned that leaving would “harm not only the health of people around the world, but also the leadership and scientific prowess of the United States.” .

“This is a catastrophic presidential decision. The withdrawal is a serious wound for global health, but an even deeper wound for the United States,” said Lawrence Gostin, a global public health expert and professor at Georgetown University.

There are also concerns that the US withdrawal could ultimately open the door to more Chinese influence over the global body, not less.

The benefits of this measure are few, but some argue that it could spur new reforms in the way the WHO works, meaning it would better serve the public health needs of people around the world.

If that happens, it could be enough to tempt the United States back into the fold. However, the tone of the language coming from Washington suggests that this second attempt by President Trump to remove the United States from the international health body will not be reconsidered.