America officially withdraws from the World Health Organization

The United States officially withdrew from the World Health Organization, Thursday, despite year-long warnings that the move would harm the health sector in the United States and globally, and said that its decision comes as a result of the United Nations organization’s failures to manage the situation during the “Covid-19” pandemic.

President Donald Trump announced, via executive order, that the United States will withdraw from the World Health Organization on the first day of his presidency in 2025.

According to a press release issued by the US Departments of Health and State, the United States’ dealings with the World Health Organization will be limited in order to actually implement the withdrawal.

A senior government health official said, “We have no plans to participate as an observer, and we do not intend to join again.” The United States stated that it intends to work directly with other countries – rather than cooperating through an international organization – for disease surveillance and other public health priorities.

Disagreement over dues from America

Under US law, Washington is supposed to issue a year’s notice of withdrawal and pay all outstanding fees, amounting to about $260 million, before leaving.

However, a US State Department official denied that the law included a condition requiring any amount to be paid before withdrawal.

Eyewitnesses said that the American flag was removed from in front of the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva on Thursday. Over the past weeks, the United States has taken steps to withdraw from a number of other United Nations organizations, and some fear that the peace council that Trump recently established will undermine the United Nations as a whole.

Many global health experts over the past year have urged the move to be reconsidered, including WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

He said in a press conference earlier this month, “I hope that the United States will reconsider the matter and return to the World Health Organization… Withdrawing from the World Health Organization is a loss for the United States and a loss for the rest of the world.”

The World Health Organization also indicated that the United States had not paid the fees owed to it for the years 2024 and 2025.

The United States’ withdrawal caused a budget crisis for the World Health Organization, which led to reducing the number of the management team by about half and reducing the organization’s work, as the United States was the organization’s largest financial supporter, by a wide margin, with a contribution amounting to about 18 percent of the total funding it received. The organization is also scheduled to be forced to lay off about a quarter of its workers by the middle of this year.

The organization stated that it has been working with the United States and exchanging information with it over the past year. It is not yet clear how this cooperation will continue in the future