US withdraws from WHO; alleges health agency of taking 'unfair payments', mismanagement of Covid
The decision would cut off one of the international aid and disease response group’s largest funding sources.
PTC News Desk: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order stating that Washington will withdraw from the World Health Organisation. While describing the decree as 'big one', Trump said that the health agency has ripped us off the United States and it's not going to happen anymore.
The WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The decision would cut off one of the international aid and disease response group’s largest funding sources. The move means the U.S. will leave the United Nations health agency in 12 months' time and stop all financial contributions to its work. The United States is WHO's biggest financial source.
The U.S. departure will likely put at risk programmes across the organisation, according to several experts both inside and outside the WHO, notably those tackling tuberculosis, the world’s biggest infectious disease killer, as well as HIV/AIDS and other health emergencies.
Trump's order said the administration would cease negotiations on the WHO pandemic treaty while the withdrawal is in progress. U.S. government personnel working with the WHO will be recalled and reassigned, and the government will look for partners to take over necessary WHO activities, according to the order.