In the summer of 2020, 15 recognized leaders in US public health gathered to write an article in The Lancet — one of the most famous medical journals in the world — rejecting Donald Trump’s intention to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization, a later decision. Nearly five years later, one of Trump’s second term presidents has restarted the process of withdrawing the US from the WHO. The move has created controversy and the threat of a legal challenge. According to a joint resolution of 1948 passed by both houses of Congress, the withdrawal required the US to give the WHO a year’s notice, but it appears that Trump’s intention is to withdraw immediately and do so without seeking congressional approval. authority, and they also did not provide the required one-year notice,” said Lawrence Gostin, professor of public health law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, and one of the authors of the Lancet 2020 article. “In my view, this is reckless and illegal, and should be challenged in court.” Trump has a long history of criticizing the WHO, previously accusing the organization of being “corrupt”, ripping off America, and “grossly mismanaged. and cover” the spread of Covid-19. The US has historically been one of the biggest funders of the WHO, with some estimates showing that it provides a fifth of the organization’s entire budget. Between 2022 and 2023, the US provided the WHO with nearly $1.3 billion. While the WHO have far-reaching responsibilities, ranging from advice on essential medicines to public policy recommendations on everything from tobacco and drug use to road safety, may have implications for surveillance of problematic new diseases, such as bird flu, and international response coordination. “Withdrawing from WHO makes us more alone, more vulnerable, more fragile in the world,” said Gostin. We need the WHO to put out the fire before it reaches the United States. And we also need a large WHO network to provide information on mutations and viruses needed to develop vaccines and life-saving medical treatments. Next article, what will happen depends on the reaction of other countries and non-governmental organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which all provide WHO with significant funding. After Trump cut the US contribution to the WHO to $680 million in 2020-21, Germany responded by quadrupling its contribution to more than $1 billion. The Danish government has also agreed to double its contribution, placing a strong emphasis on improving sexual and reproductive health and tackling non-communicable diseases.
