An executive order that does a lot of damage. Not 24 hours had passed since Donald Trump had sworn his position as president of the United States and had already decided to promote several measures immediately. One of the most controversial has been to resume something that stayed in the inkwell in its previous term, the exit of the North American country from the World Health Organization (WHO).
He signed an executive order in which “the mishandling of the organization on the Covid-19 pandemic that emerged from Wuhan (China), and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently necessary reforms and urgently necessary reforms and urgently His inability to demonstrate independence of the inappropriate political influence of the Member States“.
In the text that the American president has signed, he also ensures that WHO “continues to demand unjustly onerous payments” to his country. “That is a great reason“Trump himself said.
The proposal signed by the US president is not new. Trump has already signed it in the last semester of his previous stage at the White House and ended staying nothing with the arrival of the administration of Joe Biden.
A decision that causes a lot of “concern”
WHO did not take long to react to the measure and reminded the new American government that its organization “plays a Crucial function in the protection of the health and safety of the world population“, including” Americans. “
The organism leading Tedros Adanom stressed that among its main lines they address “the deep causes of diseases, building more solid health systems and detecting and preventing health emergencies and responding to them, including disease outbreaks, often in dangerous places where others cannot go“.
The US is one of the founding members of the organization in 1948 and has been part of the configuration and governance of the PLANS designing the WHO with the other 193 Member States.
“The WHO and the US have saved countless lives and have protected the Americans and all people in the face of health threats. Together we end with smallpox and together we have made polyomyelitis on the edge of eradication. US institutions have contributed and benefited from their membership in WHO“He said.
The organization asked Donald Trump to reconsider “his decision” and show his intention of “establish a constructive dialogue to maintain the alliance for the benefit of the health and well -being of millions of people around the world. “
It has not been the only institution that has responded to the initiative of the US government. The European Commission acknowledged that “if we want to be resistant to health threats we need global health matters.”
“We see with concern the United States decision to get out of WHO and We trust that the administration considers this before the formal withdrawal“The community spokeswoman of Health, Eva Hrncirova said last Tuesday.
From Spain, the Minister of Health and member of the WHO Executive Council on behalf of Europe, Mónica García, answered Trump’s measure from social networks: “Our commitment to the World Health Organization is firm: Fight against global diseases, guarantee access to treatments, improve prevention and strengthen health systems“.
The immediate effects
For experts, Trump’s decision will fully affect international health cooperation. In a telephone conversation, Daniel López Acuña, Epidemiologist and former director of Health Action in WHO crisis, qualifies everything that happened as “A low blow to world health, to international health cooperation and world governance of health“.
“It is not an isolated or anecdotal fact. It is a decision that affects the entire world. It is the first of a series of barrage against the United Nations system, against multilateral mechanisms, “he defends.
The expert recalls that the US is, for making a simile, “the main WHO shareholder” of the total of 194 Member States that there are. “When you retire, the US is going to leave a hole of 1.3 billion dollars. Depending on how they mobilize, it can mean almost 30% of the WHO budget“justify.
The US is the main shareholder of the WHO. When you retire, you will leave a hole of 1.3 billion dollars
Aniel López Acuña, epidemiologist and former director of health action in WHO crisis
For Daniel López Acuña, the measure promoted by Trump will mean a “serious cut in the funds“
The former director of health action in WHO crisis ensures that the “great hole” that is going to be generated “has a translation that is reduced in the ability to pandemic preparation, alert and response against possible health emergencies“.
“This implies a reduction in efforts for the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. It reduces the organization’s ability to promote mental and sexual and reproductive health. It reduces the production of technical standards and standards with global consensus . Reduces the ability to achieve good vaccination coverage“He explains.
Daniel López Acuña explains that the impact will be “very great in world health” and remember the lessons of the Covid pandemic. “He showed us that there is no country to be an island and that Cooperation and interdependence are key in the fight against health emergencies. When withdrawing from WHO, the US goes to its air and the rest of the world for another. That can generate serious cooperation short circuits in a pandemic, “
The expert recognizes that “it is not easy that, overnight, the US hole” can be compensated and believes that there must be “an effort to compensate for this deficit” by the Member States. “Affects us all“He reiterates.
United Nations confirmed Friday that the US departure will take Europa Press That the agency received the renunciation letter to be part of the organization this Wednesday, January 22, “So it will enter into force on January 22, 2026“.
The possible rebound effect
Fear is that other countries follow the same steps as the Trump administration. In Italy, the Ultra -Right Party Matteo Salvini League, a member of the Italian government of Giorgia Meloni, presented a bill in the Senate on Thursday to withdraw Italy from WHO.
The WHO “It is a useless payroll factory for national interestsa monster that does not do any good to the world, but to its own employees. ” League, Claudio Borghi.
The US march of the organism leading Tedros Adhanom is bad news for world health, a financial blow to one of the most active multilateral agencies in the World Cup from the Covid pandemic. The fear of a rebound effect is real and WHO urges the White House to reflect a measure that was in Trump’s plans for a long time.
