Trump announces US exit from the World Health Organization

Trump announces US exit from the World Health Organization

On Monday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO). This significant decision met with sharp criticism from health experts and took place on his first day after his return to the White House.

criticism of the WHO

Trump has long been expressing his concerns about the UN Health Authority. His cabinet had in July 2020 Continued Covid-19 pandemic. Four years earlier, The then president Joe Biden Coordination of international health crises is responsible.

reasons for the withdrawal

In the text of the decrees signed on Monday, the "poor handling of the Covid 19 pandemic, which has its origin in Wuhan, China, as well as the failure to grab urgently needed reforms, and the inability to free itself from inappropriate political influence of the WHO member states" as reasons for the withdrawal of the United States

Trump’s view

"This is a big step," noticed Trump, when he started signing, and referred to his decision from 2020 and his view that the United States pays too much money to the organization compared to other countries. In 2020, Trump also repeatedly accused the WHO of supporting China in the alleged cover-up of the origins of Covid-19 and allowing the spread of the virus.

cnn asked the WHO to comment.

criticism from various camps

Although legislators of both parties criticized the WHO 2020 when Trump decided for the first time, many condemned the presidential decision, while a global pandemic was underway. The then spokeswoman for the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, described the step as "act of complete senselessness". The republican Senator Lamar Alexander, who was then chairman of the Senate Committee for Health, Education, work and guest houses, also expressed his rejection of Trump's decision.

dr. Jha warns of the episodes

dr. Ashish JHA, who served as a coordinator for the Covid 19 reaction in the White House during the bid administration, Trump's decision described himself in his second term , as "strategic error". He stated: "The WHO is an extremely essential organization - the withdrawal of the USA creates a political vacuum that can only fill one country - and that's China."

jha fears that China could become active for the organization in the absence of US financing and leadership, which could increasingly lead to a stronger political influence on the global stage. Lawrence Gostin, Professor of Health Right at Georgetown University, expressed in a Contribution on X , that Trump's withdrawal from the WHO was "the most important of all" of his executive measures on Monday.

"It is a catastrophic decision by the president. The withdrawal is a difficult wound for global health, but even worse for the USA," he added. JHA warned that the withdrawal of the WHO was weakened because the organization is heavily dependent on US staff and specialist knowledge, especially when tracking global influenza cases.

legal implications

Trump's executive measure calls on the foreign minister and director of the office for administration and household to "pause the future transfer of US state funds, support or resources" for the WHO. However, it takes a year to completely withdraw from the organization, and the United States is obliged to continue to finance for a year.

"But who will enforce the obligation? Is Donald Trump intimidated by global norms in these affairs?" Asked Jha.

Gostin, who also held the O’Neill chair for global health law at the Georgetown Law, explained in a later post that the measure "is crossed with legal and factual errors". He noticed: "Trump is not waiting for a year as the congress has prescribed.

The reporting of CNN is supported in this context by Jack Forrest and Meg Tirrell.