The country’s 47th president, Donald Trump, ordered the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization. He signed an executive order to leave the agency on Monday (January 20), the day of his inauguration, citing its failure to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and other global health threats. This was reported by the British news agency Reuters.
“The WHO broke the jackal over our heads, and so have others for a long time,” said Trump, who signed an executive order shortly after his inauguration. But these things will not be allowed to continue.
He claimed that the WHO had failed to act independently free from undue political influence of member states. In addition, the agency receives too much money from the United States, unjustifiably and unilaterally. However, the amount of money required by a large economy like China is much less than its counterpart in the United States.
Reuters did not receive a comment from the World Health Organization on Trump’s decision.
In his first term, Trump tried to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization. He accused the organization of helping China deceive the whole world regarding the issue of the Covid pandemic.
The United States is the largest financial contributor to the World Health Organization. Uncle Sam contributes about 18 percent of the organization’s funding. With the decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization, US membership will be officially terminated within the next twelve months, along with this huge amount of funding.
Experts say that the organization has various important programs taking place around the world. For example, to find ways to screen and treat serious diseases such as tuberculosis, AIDS, etc. and other health threats. If the United States withdraws from the World Health Organization, the future of these programs could be in jeopardy.
Under Trump’s order, relevant officials will discuss the process of canceling the epidemic agreement with the World Health Organization during the withdrawal phase. US government officials working for the organization will be repatriated and given new responsibilities. The government will find alternative partners to the WHO to work on global health issues.