New Delhi: One of the first things Donald Trump did within minutes of his inauguration was to sign an executive order exiting the World Health Organisation (WHO), a decision the UN body called regrettable and hoped the US president would reconsider.
The reasons cited for the exit order was the WHO’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms”. The other reason given by the Trump administration was the body’s “inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states”.
“In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO,” read the order.
The US is the largest funder of the UN health body and nearly a fifth of its annual funding in 2023-24 came from the country alone. In the ongoing fiscal, the WHO has a budget of $6.8 billion.
The US has been a part of the WHO since 1948, the year the organisation was founded and the departure would make the country the only major nation that’s not a member of the agency which has 194 on board.
The latest decision by the Trump administration, experts said, would have a profound impact on the functioning of the world health agency, making it weaker politically and financially. It may also impact—even indirectly—several public health initiatives in low- and middle-income countries like India.
In his first term, Trump had signed a similar executive order—albeit in the last year of his presidency—during the peak COVID-19 pandemic. However, it was not implemented since the then incoming government, led by Joe Biden, reversed it a few months later.
The latest executive order means it will, in all likelihood, be carried out.
The WHO does not have a clear exit method for its member states but a joint resolution of the US Congress in 1948 said the country can withdraw with one year’s notice. Before the exit, said the resolution, the country has to ensure its financial obligations to WHO are met in full for the organisation’s current fiscal year.
The US administration’s decision comes at a time when the WHO has been trying to build a consensus around the Pandemic Agreement with an aim to address gaps exposed by COVID-19 and the threats posed by Mpox and other disease outbreaks.
Among other things, the proposed agreement seeks to strengthen global collaboration on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
Health experts told ThePrint that in an era where multilateral cooperation was essential for collectively addressing major global health challenges, climate change catalysed assaults on human health, and antimicrobial resistance, USA’s withdrawal from the WHO was “extremely unfortunate”.
“In an interconnected and interdependent world, it will have adverse consequences not only for other countries but also for the USA too,” said public health expert Dr K. Srinath Reddy.
‘Possible damage for health initiatives globally’
The executive order signed by Trump Monday said the then administration had announced its withdrawal from the WHO in 2020 due to the “organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China”.
The latest order said the Presidential Letter to the Secretary-General of the UN that retracted the order under Biden in 2021 stood revoked.
Some insiders in WHO-India, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint that while fund crunch for the organisation may be an issue in coming times, the indirect impact of the decision on several global health initiatives could be bigger.
“While the US has been a major source of funding for the WHO since its inception, even bigger connectedness between the two comes in the form of technical expertise as several scientists for the US Centre for Disease Control, for instance, also work for the WHO,” said a senior executive WHO-India.
“It will, therefore, be detrimental for the organisation to lose such relationships with top scientific bodies in the coming times,” the executive said.
A second official remarked that a key loss for developing countries like India would be the US administration’s indirect influence on joint health initiatives worldwide in collaboration with the WHO.
“In India’s national health programmes such as pulse polio and HIV/AIDS, control initiative agencies such as WHO and USAID (Agency for International Development) have provided crucial technical support. US and WHO falling out means bad news for such health initiatives across the globe,” he said.
The official also said if the Trump administration additionally put indirect pressure on philanthropic organisations such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which support WHO, it would mean more trouble for the health agency.
Dr Reddy pointed out that since WHO would lose its major financial contributor, other countries would need to up their funding and increase the level of scientific collaboration among themselves. “Both international cooperation and self-reliance will now acquire new purpose and fresh forms of functioning,” he underlined.
UN asks America to reconsider
In a statement issued Tuesday, the WHO said it “regrets the announcement that the US intends to withdraw from the Organization”.
“WHO plays a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the world’s people, including Americans, by addressing the root causes of disease, building stronger health systems, and detecting, preventing and responding to health emergencies, including disease outbreaks, often in dangerous places where others cannot go,” the organisation said.
The country, said the health agency, was a founding member of WHO and had participated in shaping and governing WHO’s work ever since, alongside 193 other member states, including through its active participation in the World Health Assembly and Executive Board.
“For over seven decades, WHO and the USA 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. American institutions have contributed to and benefited from membership in WHO,” the statement also said.
“With the participation of the United States 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,” it added.
The agency hoped the US would “reconsider” and said it looked forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership – for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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