US Says It Has Finalized Withdrawal From WHO

The US says it has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, one year after President Trump announced America was ending its 78-year-old commitment, federal officials said Thursday. But it's hardly a clean break, the AP reports. The US owes more than $130 million to the global health agency, according to WHO. And Trump administration officials acknowledge that they haven't finished working out some issues, such as lost access to data from other countries that could give America an early warning of a new pandemic. Experts say the US exit could cripple numerous global health initiatives, including the effort to eradicate polio, maternal and child health programs, and research to identify new viral threats.

The withdrawal will also hurt the global response to new outbreaks and will hobble the ability of US scientists and pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines and medicines against new threats, says Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University. "In my opinion, it's the most ruinous presidential decision in my lifetime," he says. Dr. Ronald Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, calls the US withdrawal "shortsighted and misguided" and "scientifically reckless."

• The WHO is the United Nations' specialized health agency and is mandated to coordinate the response to global health threats, such as outbreaks of mpox, Ebola, and polio. It also provides technical assistance to poorer countries; helps distribute scarce vaccines, supplies, and treatments; and sets guidelines for hundreds of health conditions, including mental health and cancer. Nearly every country in the world is a member.
• US officials helped lead the WHO's creation, and America has long been among the organization's biggest donors, providing hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of staffers with specialized public health expertise. On average, the US pays $111 million a year in member dues to the WHO and roughly $570 million more in annual voluntary contributions.

• In an executive order issued right after taking office, Trump said the US was withdrawing from WHO due to the organization's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises. He also cited the agency's "failure to adopt urgently needed reforms" and "inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states."
• WHO, like other public health organizations, made costly mistakes during the pandemic, including at one point advising people against wearing masks, the AP notes. It also asserted that COVID-19 wasn't airborne.
• Another Trump administration complaint: None of WHO's chief executives— there have been nine since the organization was created in 1948—have been Americans.
• Trump first triggered the 12-month withdrawal process in 2020, but President Biden reversed the move on his first day in office.
• It's not clear whether the WHO now considers the US an ex-member, NPR reports. WHO officials say that in order to leave, the US has to pay the dues it owes, which is something the Trump administration has no intention of doing. "The United States will not be making any payments to the WHO before our withdrawal," the State Department said in a statement. "The cost born by the US taxpayer and US economy after the WHO's failure during the COVID pandemic—and since—has been too high as it is."
• Gostin calls it a "very, very public and messy divorce." He believes Trump overstepped his authority in pulling out of the WHO. The US joined the organization through an act of Congress and it is supposed to take an act of Congress to withdraw, Gostin says.