The Impact of the United States Leaving the WHO

In his first ten days in office, Donald Trump signed more executive orders  than the most recent presidents did in the first 100 days. These orders will have significant effects on the state of the US, and one of the more important ones is the US being pulled out of WHO (World Health Organization). The WHO is a global organization that deals with expanding health and safety policies. Trump has expressed that he wished to discontinue their partnership due to the “organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic…and other global health crises.” According to Trump, the WHO was also demanding too much money from the United States. With United States’ impending withdrawal from the WHO is expected to begin a chain of drastic effects on worldwide public health efforts.

The WHO has an important role in advancing medicine and protecting populations from illnesses. It has prevented plenty of fatal diseases and illnesses, and it is essential for improving health institutions worldwide. The United States is quite important to the WHO, as it is its largest monetary donor. With the withdrawal, many health projects will be unable to get funding, and many health professionals will lose their jobs. These losses will have devastating effects, as these projects are needed for the protection of our health. The US has also helped developing countries through health and medicine, and US’s departure from the WHO will undermine those efforts. The WHO collects various data that is very important for advancing medical technology, and without that, the US may struggle to keep up with healthcare outcomes member nations achieve. No information will be given to the US, so the people in the US will not know if there are any dangerous diseases emerging elsewhere. According to an interview by Berkeley Public Health with Stefano M. Bertozzi, it might take a horrible disaster to make the US come back to the WHO. Bertozzi believed that no matter what political views countries have, they should all work together to combat these dangerous diseases.

President Trump already attempted to withdraw from the WHO in 2020, a plan which was undone by former president, Joe Biden. This time, Trump made sure to make this order as soon as possible so that it would take effect early in his second term. 

Whatever President Trump’s rationale may be, without the WHO, the US will experience drastic changes, becoming blind to important data and developments in the world health landscape. We will not be notified of dangerous diseases and remedies for such diseases. The withdrawal has sparked controversy and anger from both within the U.S. and beyond its borders, without a clear sense of what steps the U.S. will be able to take to make up for this loss of critical information and strategic support.