This, together with the United States withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement also announced yesterday, will likely have profound negative impacts on global health for the coming decades.
As he signed the order, he is reported to have said: “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore.” He accused WHO of mishandling the Covid-19 pandemic. This is highly contentious. President Trump's own record is described in US News: 'Trump's early denial of the pandemic, active propagation of misinformation about mask-wearing and treatments and incoherent leadership harmed the country as a whole.' https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-05-18/5-leaders...
The withdrawal of financial and political support from the United States will impact significantly on WHO's capacity. This may include WHO's capacity to champion the goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information and convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy. But I would argue that the challenge is to refocus limited resources on global health challenges - such as universal access - where WHO is uniquely positioned to lead.
Below is the text of the order from the White House.
20 January 2025
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/withdrawing-the-...
"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. The United States noticed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020 due to the organization’s 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. 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 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO.
Sec. 2. Actions. (a) The United States intends to withdraw from the WHO. The Presidential Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations signed on January 20, 2021, that retracted the United States’ July 6, 2020, notification of withdrawal is revoked.
(b) Executive Order 13987 of January 25, 2021 (Organizing and Mobilizing the United States Government to Provide a Unified and Effective Response to Combat COVID–19 and to Provide United States Leadership on Global Health and Security), is revoked.
(c) The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs shall establish directorates and coordinating mechanisms within the National Security Council apparatus as he deems necessary and appropriate to safeguard public health and fortify biosecurity.
(d) The Secretary of State and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall take appropriate measures, with all practicable speed, to:
(i) pause the future transfer of any United States Government funds, support, or resources to the WHO;
(ii) recall and reassign United States Government personnel or contractors working in any capacity with the WHO; and
(iii) identify credible and transparent United States and international partners to assume necessary activities previously undertaken by the WHO.
(e) The Director of the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy shall review, rescind, and replace the 2024 U.S. Global Health Security Strategy as soon as practicable.
Sec. 3. Notification. The Secretary of State shall immediately inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations, any other applicable depositary, and the leadership of the WHO of the withdrawal.
Sec. 4. Global System Negotiations. While withdrawal is in progress, the Secretary of State will cease negotiations on the WHO Pandemic Agreement and the amendments to the International Health Regulations, and actions taken to effectuate such agreement and amendments will have no binding force on the United States..."
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org