LONDON (REUTERS)
The United States officially left the World Health Organization on Thursday after a year of warnings that doing so would hurt public health in the US and globally, saying its decision reflected failures in the UN health agency's management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Donald Trump gave notice that the US would quit the organization on the first day of his presidency in 2025, via an executive order.
According to a press release from the USHealth and State Departments, the US will only work with the WHO in a limited fashion in order to effectuate the withdrawal.
"We have no plans to participate as an observer, and we have no plans of rejoining," a senior government health official said. The US said it plans to work directly with other countries - rather than through an international organisation - on disease surveillance and other public health priorities.
Dispute Over US-Owed Fees
Under US law, it was supposed to give one-year notice and pay all outstanding fees - around $260 million - before departing.
But a US State Department official disputed that the statute contains a condition that any payment needs to be made before withdrawal.
"The American people have paid more than enough," a State Department spokesperson said in an email earlier on Thursday.
The Department of Health and Human Services said in a document released on Thursday that the government had ended its funding contributions to the agency. Trump had exercised his authority to pause the future transfer of any US government resources to the WHO because the organization had cost the US trillions of dollars, the HHS spokesperson said.
The US flag had been removed from outside the WHO headquarters in Geneva on Thursday, according to witnesses.
Several WHO critics have also proposed setting up a new agency to replace the organization, although a proposal document reviewed by the Trump administration last year instead suggested the US push for reforms and American leadership at WHO.