WHO Unhappy Over Trump’s Withdrawal of US Membership

After his inauguration on Monday, the new US President, Mr Donald Trump, signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the global health body.

“The World Health Organisation regrets the announcement that the United States of America intends to withdraw from the Organization.

“The organisation hopes that Washington will change its decision.

“We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership between the USA and WHO, for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe,” the health group stated in the statement.

This marks the second time Mr Trump has ordered the US to be pulled out of the world health body charged with global health welfare and monitoring.

Mr Trump was critical of how the international body handled COVID-19 and began the process of pulling out from the Geneva-based institution during the pandemic.

However, after Mr Trump lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, the erstwhile American president, who later reversed that decision.

With his return to office, Mr Trump, through the executive action on day one, makes it more likely the US will formally leave the global agency.

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

President Trump was critical of the organisation for being too “China-centric” in its tackling of the COVID-19 pandemic and accused the WHO of being biased towards the Asian nation in how it issued guidance during the outbreak.

Under the Biden administration, the US continued to be the largest funder of the WHO (around 14 per cent) and in 2023, it contributed almost one-fifth of the agency’s budget.

The organisation’s annual budget is $6.8 billion.