Less than one day in office, and President Donald Trump is ripping it all apart. In a plan to sign 100 executive orders on his first day, Trump has already left the Paris Climate Agreement, made moves to end birthright citizenship, and, is pulling the States out of WHO.
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency within the United Nations responsible for global public health. The agency combines the resources and funding of countries from around the world to tackle global health issues. Now, thanks to Trump’s latest move, they’re about to lose their biggest contributor. Trump reasons that he believes they mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic and other major international health crises.
He also cited “unfairly onerous payments” from the U.S. that were disproportionate to other countries, like China. “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore,” he said while signing the order to withdraw the States from the WHO. The States in the programmes biggest financial contributor, providing 18% of its funds. The next largest donors are the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, followed by Germany which provides 3% of the overall funding. WHO’s most recent two year budget for 2024-2025 came to $6.8 billion.
It’s not a complete shock that Trump would pull a stunt like this. He tried to quit back in 2020, accusing the WHO of covering China’s attempts to “mislead the world” over the pandemic’s origins. This is something the WHO has vehemently denied. The organization has been scrutinized heavily for its close relationship to China, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the U.S. leaving will hardly make that any better. The process of withdrawal will take a year, and by 2026, the U.S. will no longer help finances the World Health Organization, that is unless Congress blocks the move.
What does leaving WHO look like?
Back in December of 2024, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said,
“From our side we are ready to work together. The relationship between the WHO and the United States has been a good model of partnership for many years and we believe that will be the case. I believe that U.S. leaders understand that the U.S. cannot be safe unless the rest of the world is safe.”
The idea of the WHO is cooperation, with each member country pooling information and resources toward a common goal. According to Science, “The consequences could be dramatic” in the case of the U.S.’s withdrawal. It would sever the ties between WHO and U.S. health agencies such as the FDA and CDC. An expert on emerging diseases, virologist Marion Koopmans, states the move would “would isolate the CDC from a lot of intelligence that is crucial for our global security.” Other experts believe that leaving would make the U.S. more vulnerable.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Ghebreyesus responded to Trump’s decision to pull out.
For those who can only watch Trump just rip everything up, sharing their thoughts online is all they can do.
One doctor took to X to share that he believes it’s unlawful for Trump to pull out without Congress’ approval.
Many can’t believe that a leader would destroy the very systems set in place to protect the people they serve.
Others have simply stated:
People are now looking at the future worryingly, rightfully so.
It will be down to Congress as to whether this actually passes or not. If it does, it not only isolates the U.S. from global health knowledge and resources, and vice versa, but is allows China to take a bigger role, the very thing Trump accused the WHO of in the first place. It could also embolden other right wing governments to think about doing the same, weakening our global health efforts and placing global health at risk. Let’s just say, today has been exhausting.
Published: Jan 21, 2025 08:01 am