Editorial: Blow to global health body

America’s withdrawal from the World Health Organisation comes as no surprise as Trump’s hostility towards the global body is well-known

Among a slew of executive orders Donald Trump signed, soon after taking over as the United States President for a second term, was the one that mandated America’s withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO), a development fraught with adverse implications for countries like India. The exit of the US is likely to have a huge financial impact on the global health body since it receives around a fifth of its funds from the country. Essentially, the UN body works with countries to strengthen their primary healthcare and helps them in tackling specific diseases. In India, the WHO participates in and supports several health programmes of the government, such as its work on neglected tropical diseases, HIV-malaria-and tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance among others. More importantly, it plays a significant role in the country’s immunisation programme, with WHO teams even monitoring vaccine coverage. A funding cut like this would mean they will not be able to effectively implement these programmes. In addition, the loss of expertise from the United States would also impact WHO’s role of providing guidance. The development comes as no surprise as Trump’s hostility towards the global body is well known. The order said the US was withdrawing “due to the organisation’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic that arose out of China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states”.

The order also said the withdrawal was the result of “unfairly onerous payments” the US made to the WHO, which is part of the United Nations. When Trump was still in office the first time around, he was critical of the organisation for being too ‘China-centric’ in its tackling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Trump accused the WHO of being biased towards China in how it issued guidance during the outbreak. Under the Biden administration, the US continued to be the largest funder of the WHO and in 2023, it contributed almost one-fifth of the agency’s budget. Under the Trump 2.0 administration, the US will cease negotiations towards the pandemic treaty the WHO is working on. The accord aims to better prepare countries to respond to pandemics, create a framework for global cooperation if a pandemic happens, and develop mechanisms for equitably sharing medical countermeasures such as drugs and vaccines. While there is no provision for withdrawing in WHO’s constitution, the US Congress, at the time of joining the organisation in 1948, had laid down a condition that said the country could withdraw after giving a one-year notice and meeting the financial obligations of the current year. Some experts are now speculating that the vacuum created by the US exit is likely to be filled by China and countries from the global South, including India, which has emerged as the voice of the global South.

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