The United States has formally withdrawn from the World Health Organization, triggering a budget crisis and staff cuts while refusing to pay $260 million in owed fees.
LONDON: The United States has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization.
The departure follows a year of warnings that the move would damage public health both domestically and globally.
A joint statement from the US Health and State Departments said the decision reflected failures in the WHO’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Donald Trump initiated the withdrawal via an executive order on the first day of his presidency in 2025.
The US will now only engage with the WHO in a limited capacity to finalise its exit.
“We have no plans to participate as an observer, and we have no plans of rejoining,” a senior US health official said.
Washington plans to work directly with other nations on disease surveillance instead of through the UN agency.
The US owes the WHO approximately $260 million in outstanding membership fees.
A US State Department official disputed that payment is a legal prerequisite for withdrawal.
“The American people have paid more than enough,” a State Department spokesperson said.
The US flag was removed from outside the WHO headquarters in Geneva on Thursday.
The withdrawal has triggered a severe financial crisis for the global health body.
The WHO has cut its management team by half and is scaling back work across the agency.
It will also shed around a quarter of its total staff by mid-year.
Washington was historically the agency’s largest funder, contributing about 18% of its budget.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had urged the US to reconsider the decision.
Member states will discuss the US departure at the WHO’s executive board meeting in February.
Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, said he did not expect a short-term US reversal.
“The world needs the World Health Organization,” Gates told Reuters in Davos.
Global health experts warn the exit weakens international systems for managing health threats.
“The U.S. withdrawal from WHO could weaken the systems and collaborations the world relies on to detect, prevent, and respond to health threats,” said Kelly Henning of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
