The World Health Organization is shaped by its members: 194 countries that set health priorities and make agreements about how to share critical data, treatments, and vaccines during international emergencies.
As of President Donald Trump’s first day back in office Monday, the United States is leaving the World Health Organization. Some local experts think such a move might leave Spokane and the United States unprepared for the next pandemic.
This afternoon, the Associated Press is reporting that United States officials have officially ordered all public health officers to cease working at the World Health Organization just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order pulling the United States out of the World Health Organization.
More than half of Americans believe the U.S. benefits from its membership in the WHO. As of April 2024, 25% of U.S. adults say the country benefits a great deal from its membership, while about one third say it benefits a fair amount. Conversely, 38% say the U.S. does not benefit much or at all from WHO membership.
WHO’s constitution, drafted in New York, doesn’t have a clear exit method for member states. A joint resolution by Congress in 1948 outlined that the U.S. can withdraw with one year's notice. This is contingent, however, on ensuring that its financial obligations to WHO “shall be met in full for the organization’s current fiscal year.”
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Public health experts say U.S. withdrawal from the W.H.O. would undermine the nation’s standing as a global health leader and make it harder to fight the next pandemic.
The U.S. withdrawal from WHO has seismic implications on issues like prevention of future pandemics, and the stakes are especially high for Canada.
Health and humanitarian groups around the world were still uncertain on Wednesday if and how they could resume work after the United States issued a waiver for "life-saving" assistance in President Donald Trump's freeze on U.
The State Department issued a waiver for lifesaving aid, but HIV clinics remain shut and uncertainty lingers over the future of PEPFAR, which saved 25 million lives.
This action follows an executive order signed by President Trump on his first day in office to withdraw the United States from the WHO.