The US has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), a year after President Donald Trump announced he was putting an end to America’s 78-year-old commitment to the health agency.
Trump notified the United Nations health agency a year ago when he signed an executive order on the first day of his office in 2025. There’s a one-year waiting period before the withdrawal is finalized.
The US president cited the organization’s alleged “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic” and “other global health crises” among reasons to quit the body. He also said that US membership in the organization required “unfairly onerous payments.”
“Today, the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO), freeing itself from its constraints,” said a joint statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., published Thursday.
A dispute over US-owed fees
Washington’s withdrawal appears to be messy.
The US owes more than $130 million to the global health agency, according to WHO, but there is uncertainty and disagreementover it.
Member states are also set to discuss the US departure and how it will be handled at the WHO’s executive board in February, a WHO spokesperson said.
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.
Over the last year, many global health experts have urged a rethink, including most recently WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Experts worry about weakened global health security
Over the course of last year, experts have warned that the US withdrawal stands to severely impact the abilities of both the US and the WHO to address disease outbreaks and global health threats.
The US has historically been the largest funder of the organization. The specialized health agency is mandated to coordinate preparedness when it comes to disease outbreaks like mpox, Ebola and polio.
It also provides technical assistance to poorer countries, helps distribute scarce vaccines, and sets guidelines for hundreds of health conditions, including mental health and cancer.
“I hope the US will reconsider and rejoin WHO,” Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing earlier this month. “Withdrawing from the WHO is a loss for the United States, and it’s a loss for the rest of the world.”
DW TV