KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — The United States has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), as promised by President Donald Trump on his first day in office.
In a joint statement yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr cited WHO’s alleged failures during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Although the United States was a founding member and the WHO’s largest financial contributor, the organisation pursued a politicised, bureaucratic agenda driven by nations hostile to American interests,” said Rubio and Kennedy in their statement released by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“In doing so, the WHO obstructed the timely and accurate sharing of critical information that could have saved American lives and then concealed those failures under the pretext of acting ‘in the interest of public health’.”
According to the HHS, all US funding for, and staffing of, WHO initiatives has ceased.
The US was a founding member of the WHO in 1948.
In a joint op-ed published by the British Medical Journal in January 2025, following an executive order signed by Trump, Malaysia’s Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Kent Buse, Larry Gostin, Dr Adeeba, and Martin McKee said Trump’s decision for the US to withdraw from the WHO would weaken the global body and leave the US isolated.
They noted that historically, the US has been the world’s largest global health funder, supporting programmes to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, pandemic preparedness and response, and to improve maternal and child health.
“The United States will continue to lead the world in public health, saving millions of lives and protecting Americans at home by preventing infectious disease threats from reaching our shores while advancing global health security through direct, bilateral, and results-driven partnerships,” said Rubio and Kennedy.
“We will continue to work with countries and trusted health institutions to share best practices, strengthen preparedness, and protect our communities through a more focused, transparent, and effective model which delivers real outcomes rather than the bloated and inefficient bureaucracy of the WHO.”
