The North American exit has raised concerns about global health cooperationespecially in the face of future pandemics.
The US government announced that the United States has officially withdrawn from the refusing to pay outstanding contributions exceeding 260 million dollars (221 million euros).
An official from the Department of Health and Human Services highlighted to the press that the United States paid up to 25% of the WHO’s budget, without the organization having a North American director general, and claimed that the agency itself favored other countries that contributed less.
“There are countless examples, both recent and historical, of the WHO’s shortcomings, but the bottom line is that we paid them, we trusted them and they let us down, and they didn’t take responsibility for their failure,” the official added.
“We will continue to work with countries and Ministries of Health, as we have been doing for decades, and we will continue to develop these relationships and use them in a mutually beneficial way that respects the sovereignty of both our country and other countries”, said the official quoted by EFE.
The North American exit has raised concerns about global health cooperationespecially in the face of future pandemics.
When the WHO was founded in 1948, Washington joined through a joint congressional resolution that stipulated that the country, unlike other members, would retain the right to withdraw from the agency.
Another North American official stated, regarding the contributions due, that the terms of the 1948 resolution do not include anything that stipulates that, as a condition for leaving the WHO, “any payment must be made before the withdrawal takes effect.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted that have no intention of paying their debts referring to the period 2024-2025, which are estimated between 260 million and 280 million dollars.
He also criticized the role of the WHO in global health crises, its inability to adopt reforms and lack of independence in relation to the undue political influence of other Member States, in a direct reference to China’s power.
The abandonment follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on the day of his inauguration, January 20, 2025.
Trump, who during his first term (2017-2021) had already started the process to remove the country from the organization due to what he considered to be mismanagement of the pandemic of covid-19, reiterated this point in the executive order he signed.
The Trump administration criticizes that countries with populations larger than the United States, such as China, pay fewer contributions.
