Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Fauci affirms U.S. return to global pandemic fight
Going forward, the United States will work with — not against — the World Health Organization. That was the message delivered Thursday by President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser.
In remarks to the U.N. health agency’s executive board, Anthony Fauci confirmed that the United States will halt its withdrawal from the WHO and work cooperatively to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
That will mean opting into Covax, a multilateral plan to distribute coronavirus vaccines that has drawn support from more than 170 nations but was spurned by President Donald Trump during his feud with the WHO.
The WHO and leaders in many developing countries have repeatedly expressed concerns that poorer places could be the last to get covid-19 vaccines, while noting that leaving vast swaths of the global population unvaccinated puts everyone at risk.
Fauci’s remarks, delivered on Biden’s first full day in office, signaled the new administration’s desire to restore the United States’ relationship with an organization it helped found and shape after months of WHO-bashing and threats.
“The United States stands
ready to work in partnership and solidarity to support the international covid-19 response, mitigate its impact on the world, strengthen our institutions, advance epidemic preparedness for the future, and improve the health and well-being of all people throughout the world,” Fauci said.
Mending ties with the WHO is part of a broader push to restore U.S. leadership in global public health and reengage with traditional allies after four years of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.
The Biden administration’s national covid-19 strategy, for instance, promises that the country will “rebuild health security alliances, elevate U.S. efforts to support the Global Health Security Agenda, and revitalize U.S. leadership.”
Fauci’s address represented a striking reversal of tone.
“I join my fellow representatives in thanking the World Health Organization for its role in leading the global response to this pandemic,” he said. “Under trying circumstances, this organization has rallied the scientific and research community to accelerate vaccines, therapies and diagnostics.”
Choosing his words carefully, Fauci acknowledged that it had been difficult at times to work for Trump, who repeatedly played down the severity of the pandemic, refused to consistently promote mask-wearing and often touted unproven scientific remedies, including a malaria drug.
“It was very clear that there were things that were said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things, that really was uncomfortable because they were not based in scientific fact,” Fauci said. He added that he took “no pleasure” in having to contradict the president.
“There was clear political influence on the message of the pandemic. It became political to say that the pandemic was devastating our community because it was interpreted as a judgment on Trump,” said Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, an infectious-diseases physician and a professor at Boston University School of Medicine. “It actively created enemies of the public health folks in a segment of the population.”
Having Fauci return to a central role, Bhadelia said, is a sign “that science was being repressed and now back.”
The agency’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, thanked Fauci for his remarks Thursday and for recommitting to the covid-19 fight, calling it “a good day for the WHO and a good day for global health.”
“We have a lot of work to do, and lessons to learn, to end the pandemic and meet the long list of global health challenges we face — the world will be better able to meet them with you,” Tedros said.
The past year has been anything but easy for the WHO, which has been at the heart of a complex global health crisis as well as a political conflict.
Trump was highly critical of the organization and its director general, accusing them of mishandling the initial outbreak and being subservient to China.
In July, after months of threats, Trump issued a letter announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO after a year. In September, the Trump administration announced it would not participate in Covax because of its link to the WHO.
Some elements of Trump’s critique have resonated beyond the White House. The WHO’s actions in the early days of the pandemic have also been criticized by an independent panel, for instance, and changes are under discussion.
But few supported the Trump administration’s undermining of the agency mid-pandemic, and Biden promised as a presidential candidate to reverse course. Hours after taking office, he signed directives to reengage with the WHO.
Questions about China are likely to remain front and center in the days ahead. Fauci on Thursday expressed support for WHO-led efforts to determine the origins of the pandemic with a mission sent to China, amid fears that Beijing will obstruct the agency’s efforts.
“The international investigation must be robust and clear,” he said. “And we look forward to evaluating it.”
The White House said later Thursday that Vice President Kamala Harris had discussed many of the same themes as Fauci raised in a call with Tedros.
But she emphasized the need to beef up the global response to covid-19, “mitigate its secondary impacts, including on women and girls,” and work to “prevent the next outbreak from becoming an epidemic or pandemic,” the White House said in a statement.
“In addition, the vice president emphasized the importance of making America safer through global cooperation,” it added, highlighting the new tone out of Washington.
John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the renewed commitment “great news” in an email. “The world has always been a better place when the U.S. plays a leadership role in solving global health problems including the fight against HIV/ AIDS, malaria, polio and other diseases,” he said.
Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke wrote on Facebook: “This is going to have a huge impact on the world’s ability to fight the pandemic. It is decisive that the United States is involved as a driving force and not a country that is looking for the exit when a global catastrophe rages.”