In a stunning shift of circumstances, President Donald Trump has brought back an arguable discussion of global health by starting the official process of pulling back from the World Health Organization (WHO) for the second time in less than five years. This decision, made on the first day of his second term in the White House, sent alarm bells ringing among health experts and scientists, seeing it as a possible setback to decades of work aimed at curbing the growth of infectious diseases, such as AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.

On his first visit to the Oval Office, Trump signed an executive order setting the withdrawal process in motion. "Ooh, that's a big one!" he said as he signed the document, indicating a decisive move to suspend future U.S. funding of WHO, recall federal personnel working with it, and charge officials with organizing alternative partners to undertake critical functions previously provided by the agency.

A History of Withdrawal Attempts

This is not the first time that Trump has wanted to ruin his friendship with WHO. In July 2020, as COVID-19 surged globally, the Trump administration formally notified the United Nations of its intent to withdraw—President Joe Biden, on his first day in office in January 2021, reversed this decision. Now, with Trump back on top, withdrawal is looming again.

Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, said withdrawing from WHO not only withdraws much-needed funding from the body itself but also surrenders our position as a global health leader and silences America's voice on the critical decisions governing global health security. He insisted that true reform calls for engagement, rather than abandonment, adding that abandoning WHO might diminish American influence and promote the danger of yet another deadly pandemic.

The Role of WHO in Global Health

As a specialized agency of the UN, the WHO is integral to coordinating responses to global health threats such as pandemics like Ebola and polio. It also provides critical technical support to poor countries, aids in the distribution of vaccines, and makes recommendations on various health issues. Note the corroboration of Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Global Health Law at Georgetown University: "A U.S. withdrawal from WHO would make the world far less healthy and safe." He cautioned that a loss of American support would cripple WHO global surveillance and epidemic responses, allowing new diseases to spin out of control and setting the stage for potential pandemics.

Yes, Donald Trump could withdraw U.S. membership in WHO, provided he gets Congressional approval and pays what he owes for the fiscal year. The United States had joined WHO in 1948, through a joint resolution passed by both houses of Congress, which specifies that withdrawals have to observe a one-year term.

Consequences of Withdrawal

This move is going to have dire consequences. The U.S. has historically been one of WHO's largest donors, giving between $160 million to $815 million each year. At WHO's annual budget of $2 billion to $3 billion, losing U.S. funding would shatter many global health initiatives, including polio eradication and maternal and child health programs. U.S. agencies collaborating with WHO like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health would also be seriously bogged down, and beyond this, U.S. scientists would lose access to essential genetic databases managed by WHO, setting their vaccine and treatment development very far behind.

The reason for Trump's withdrawal was that he thought WHO was corrupt, overly influenced by corporate interests and China. During a rally in September, he would say at least that the U.S. gives much more to WHO than China does, and he accused the organization of working to Chinese benefits. He has, of course, accused WHO of colluding with China to suppress the facts in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak.

A Call for Collaboration

Commenting on these developments, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed a wish for collaboration: “We are really of the opinion about cooperation, ...and we, for our part, would be ready to work together.” He asserted that the U.S.-WHO relationship has been a poster child for partnerships, drawing emphasis toward the notion of interconnectedness in matters regarding global health security.

For the world, this is a critical situation. Possible withdrawal from WHO threatens not only the health of Americans but endangers global health security and invites the specters of future pandemics. The question before us now is: will the U.S. prefer to stand up for global health or choose to disappear behind its doors?