President Donald Trump on Tuesday formally started the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), making good on threats to deprive the UN body of its top funding source over its response to the coronavirus.
Public health advocates and Mr. Trump’s political opponents voiced outrage at the departure from the Geneva-based body, which leads the global fight on maladies from polio to measles to mental health — as well as COVID-19, at a time when cases have again been rising around the world.
After threatening to suspend the $400 million in annual U.S. contributions and then announcing a withdrawal, the Trump administration has formally sent a notice to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a State Department spokesperson said.
The withdrawal of the key WHO founding member is effective in one year — July 6, 2021. Joe Biden, Mr. Trump’s presumptive Democratic opponent in November elections, vowed he would immediately end the pullout if he won the White House.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus responded to the news with a one-word tweet — “Together!” — as he linked to a discussion by U.S. health experts on how leaving the global body could impede efforts to prevent future pandemics.
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