Donald Trump has pulled the US out of the World Health Organisation (WHO), stating that the global health organisation mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic.
In one of his first executive orders, the President said the agency failed to act independently from the “inappropriate political influence of WHO member states”.
He said that the WHO “continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments,” such as China.
“World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said, signing the order shortly after his inauguration.
In one of his first executive orders, the President said the agency failed to act independently from the ‘inappropriate political influence of WHO member states’
Reuters
This is the second time that Trump has ordered the US to be pulled out of the global health organisation.
During his first presidency, Trump was critical of the organisation for being too “China-centric” when handling the pandemic.
He began the process of pulling out of the agency in 2020, however, when Joe Biden succeeded him in the Oval Office, he reversed Trump’s decision and restored funding to the WHO.
The US has historically been the largest funder of the WHO and has strongly influenced the agency since its founding after World War Two.
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Trump signs documents as he issues executive orders following his inauguration
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The President later said: “They wanted us back so badly so we’ll see what happens,” potentially hinting at a return in the future.
The move means that the US will leave the WHO in 12 months and stop all funding to the agency. America contributes approximately 18 per cent of its overall funding.
The departure would make the nation the only major power that’s not a member of the body which is made up of 194 countries.
US government personnel working with the WHO will be recalled and reassigned, whilst the White House will start looking for partners to take over WHO activities.
The move means that the US will leave the WHO in 12 months time
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Trump said that the global health organisation mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic
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The move has been met with concern from officials and academics, who have said the decision will endanger the health of the world.
Ashish Jha, who formerly worked as Covid-19 response coordinator under President Biden, said it was a “catastrophic mistake”. He had previously warned that leaving would “harm not only the health of people around the world but also US leadership and scientific prowess”.
“This is going to be a grave strategic error that will make America less healthy and less safe,” Lawrence Gostin, a global public health expert said.
“The withdrawal itself is going to isolate the United States,” Gostin said. “It’ll isolate us diplomatically, and it’ll isolate us in pandemic response.”