US withdrawal from WHO: Why is the move sowing the seeds for the next pandemic? Health experts explain
According to health experts worldwide, the move can have long-standing impacts on the health of the US and people in other countries.
According to health experts worldwide, the move can have long-standing impacts on the health of the US and people in other countries.
According to health experts worldwide, the move can have long-standing impacts on the health of the US and people in other countries.
Soon after he took office, US President Donald Trump ordered the US to leave the World Health Organisation (WHO). As per the order, the US was leaving WHO due to its 'mishandling of the COVID-19 and its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms.' Earlier, he had also criticised WHO as being too 'China-centric.' While under the Joe Biden administration, the US was one of the largest funders of the organisation and gave almost one-fifth of its budget in 2023. According to health experts worldwide, the move can have long-standing impacts on the health of the US and people in other countries.
It can weaken the UN body's ability to diseases like Ebola, MPox, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, aids or other health emergencies like COVID-19. Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health at Georgetown University in Washington and the director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on National and Global Health Law, told Reuters, "Trump could be sowing the seeds for the next pandemic." Here are a few other reasons why it can risk future pandemics, according to various experts:
1) The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention will not have access to the global data that WHO provides. For example, during the COVID-19 outbreak, China characterised the virus's genetic sequence and released it to WHO, which was later shared with other countries.
2) Ongoing projects to eradicate HIV/AIDS and polio will be affected by the loss of US funding. As WHO is a key contributor to its disease surveillance, tuberculosis eradication and vaccine distribution projects, India will also be affected.
3) US withdrawal from the Pandemic Agreement negotiations is also considered a bigger threat, as it will affect the world's preparedness for future pandemics like COVID-19.
4) The US will also lose its role as an influencer in global health policy. This would also lead to WHO severing ties with the Centre for Disease Control in the US, which is one of the world's leading public health agencies.
5) The contractors and staff working for the WHO from the US will be recalled and reassigned. This will result in the loss of critical manpower and the US' ability to respond to global health emergencies. It will delay efforts to contain diseases as well.