President Donald Trump has signed an executive order beginning the process of withdrawing America from the World Health Organisation, the second time in less than five years that the US has made a move to withdraw from the world body.
It was among dozens of executive actions he signed after being sworn in on Monday for a second term, on issues ranging from immigration to foreign policy to climate change.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) came under intense criticism from Trump in 2020 for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which grew into a worldwide health crisis during the final year of his first term.
“That’s a big one,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House when an aide presented to him an executive order on this to be signed by him.
“We paid USD 500 million to World Health when I was here, and I terminated it. China, with 1.4 billion people, has 350 dependents… Nobody knows what we have because so many people came in illegally. But let’s say we have 325 (million people). They (China) had 1.4 billion people. They were paying USD39 million. We were paying USD500 million. It seemed a little unfair to me,” he said.
“That wasn’t the reason, but I dropped out (of WHO). They offered me to come back for USD39 million. In theory, it should be less than that, but, when Biden came back, they came back for USD500 million. He knew that you could have come back for USD39 million. They wanted us back so badly. So, we’ll see what happens,” he said.
The order said Trump was sending a presidential letter to the United Nations secretary-general to formally notify him of the US plan to withdraw.
The US noticed its withdrawal from WHO in 2020 due to its mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states, said the executive order.
“In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 per cent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 per cent less to the WHO,” it said, adding that the US intends to withdraw from the WHO.
The global health body stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in funding following Trump’s order.
Reacting to Trump’s move, WHO in a statement on Tuesday said it “regrets the announcement”.
“WHO plays a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the world’s people, including Americans, by addressing the root causes of disease, building stronger health systems, and detecting, preventing and responding to health emergencies, including disease outbreaks, often in dangerous places where others cannot go,” the statement said.
It said for over seven decades, WHO and the US have saved countless lives and protected Americans and all people from health threats. Together, they ended smallpox, and brought polio to the brink of eradication. American institutions have contributed to and benefited from membership in WHO.
“With the participation of the United States and other Member States, WHO has over the past 7 years implemented the largest set of reforms in its history, to transform our accountability, cost-effectiveness, and impact in countries. This work continues.
“We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership between the USA and WHO, for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe,” the statement said.
This is Trump’s second attempt to withdraw the US from the WHO
