President Trump has announced that he is immediately halting the decades-long U.S. membership in the World Health Organization over its response to China’s handling of the coronavirus epidemic.
In a press briefing Friday at the White House, Trump said, “We will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs.”, NPR has reported.
The U.S. was a major force in founding WHO in 1948 and is the organization’s top funder, providing around $450 million a year, according to Trump.
Groups representing infectious disease doctors, pediatricians and general physicians all protested President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization on Friday, saying it will make it harder to fight the coronavirus pandemic, reported CNN .
“The Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw from the WHO carries grave risks for the world’s children during an unprecedented global health crisis. The decision to withdraw risks causing a surge in polio cases and an increase in deaths of children from malaria, and it will further delay life-saving vaccination campaigns,” Mark Del Monte, CEO of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement.
“Withdrawing support from the WHO not only harms the global response against COVID-19 and prevents the United States from engaging the agency to enact meaningful reforms, but undermines the response to other major health threats impacting children. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges the administration to reconsider its position and continue to work with the WHO to combat COVID-19 and promote the health of children globally.”
