The decision marks a resounding change, since it is about removing the country that is the main contributor of funds of the organization, with nearly 18% of your total financing. In fact, the budget provided for 2024-2025 was US$6.8 billion.
Because of this, the US government stated that the measure was taken due to the demand of “unfairly onerous payments” and “inability to adopt necessary reforms urgently and to demonstrate independence.
In 2020, at the end of his first term in the White House, the president had made the same decision. However, given that the law requires a period of one year between the measure and its compliance, at that time it could not be made effective, because its successor, Joe Bidenrevoked it in 2021.
Donald Trump withdraws the United States from the WHO: what the measure says
The regulations explain the reason for the decision of the new US government: “The United States requested its withdrawal from the WHO in 2020 due to the poor management by the organization of the Covid-19 pandemic that arose from Wuhan, China and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its failure to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
“The WHO continues demanding unfairly onerous payments to the United States, very disproportionate with the evaluated payments of other countries”, it highlights in its recitals.
Then he points out: “China, with a population of 1.4 billion inhabitantshas the 300% of the US populationbut contributes almost 90% less to the WHO.
What impact did Donald Trump’s measure have worldwide?
The fact that the United States contributes around 18% of the WHO’s financing, can destabilize the body itself by losing it. It is that the same facing difficulties raising funds destined for health emergencies from Gaza to Ukraine.
However, during the last period, the North American country financed 75% of WHO programs related to the HIV and other sexually transmitted diseasesin addition to more than half of contributions to combat tuberculosis.
This led to the fact that in 2022, the United States will consolidate as the largest global health donorwith a contribution of US$15.8 billionaccording to the Donor Tracker platform, which monitors international development financing.
The WHO statement
The WHO said in a statement that “regrets the announcement that the United States of America “they intend to withdraw from the Organization”.
“The WHO plays a crucial role in health protection and the safety of the world’s population, including Americans, by addressing the root causes of diseases, building stronger health systems and detecting, preventing and responding to health emergencies, including disease outbreaks, often in dangerous places where others cannot go,” the text continued.
Then, the organism dependent on United Nations Organization (UN) exhibited: “The United States of America They were one of the founding members in 1948and have since been involved in shaping and governing WHO’s work alongside 193 other Member States, including through active participation in the World Health Assembly and the Executive Board“.
“For more than seven decades, the WHO and the United States of America have saved countless lives and have protected Americans and all people against health threats. Together we ended smallpox and together we have brought polio to the brink of eradication. “US institutions have contributed to and benefited from their membership in the WHO,” the organization reviewed.
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AFP
“With the participation of the United States of America and other Member States, over the past 7 years WHO has implemented the largest set of reforms in its history to transform our accountability, our cost-effectiveness and our impact in countries. This work continues,” the statement added.
“We hope that the United States of America reconsiders its decisionand we wish to establish a constructive dialogue to maintain the alliance between the United States of America and the WHO to benefit the health and well-being of millions of people around the world,” they concluded.
The questioning of the European Union
Eva Hrncirovacommunity spokesperson for Health of the European Union, stated: “We view the withdrawal announcement with concern of the United States of the WHO and we trust that you will consider all this before the formal withdrawal.
“To be resilient to global health threats Global cooperation is needed in the area of health,” the European official continued.
He then continued: “There is no better example than the global COVID-19 pandemic. We learned the lesson. We saw that viruses do not stop at borders and that we need global cooperation in the health area.”
”There is always room for improvement, but we would like to get involved in a possible reform of the WHO. We need a common solution to common problems and if we want to reform the WHO we have to be committed with her,” Hrncirova said during a press conference.
Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement
The American president He also decided to withdraw his country from the Paris Agreement against climate change.. The determination is related to the low importance that the Republican gives to climate issues and environmental agenda.
Likewise, once the agreement was announced, departure takes at least a year to become official, as is the case with the World Health Organization. In that sense, the US could participate in the negotiations of the next COP which will take place in Brazil and in which states must present their next round of climate plans.
The Paris Agreementand officially approved in December 2015and emerged to address the need to work globally to fight climate change. It’s a international treaty legally binding by which the signatory countries, almost 200 in 2015, commit to making the necessary efforts to prevent the global temperature of the planet at the end of the 21st century rise more than 2ºC compared to what it was before the industrial era.
Source: Ambito
