Multilateralism needed
The planned withdrawal by the United States from the World Health Organization is a “senseless”, “awful decision” that would be an enormous disruption during an unprecedented crisis that calls for multilateralism, health experts and politicians have said.
Just about 10 days after he sent a letter to the WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus threatening to freeze US funding permanently if the organization did not make unspecified “substantive changes” in a month, US President Donald Trump on Friday said the organization had failed to make reforms and the US would quit.
“We will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and directing those funds to worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs,” Trump said in a brief statement in the White House Rose Garden.
Trump was taking aim at the United Nations health agency as the US death toll from COVID-19 had surpassed 100,000, even as some US states resumed business and leisure activities. Some states have reported that their number of new cases has risen following the easing of stay-at-home restrictions.
In addition to WHO, Trump also blamed China for the pandemic, a stance China has firmly rejected.
Trump’s move drew a swift response from US Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, a Republican, who began his statement with “I disagree with the president’s decision”.
“Withdrawing US membership could, among other things, interfere with clinical trials that are essential to the development of vaccines, which citizens of the United States as well as others in the world need,” Alexander said.
The US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also panned Trump’s decision.
“The President’s withdrawal from @WHO as it leads the fight against COVID-19 is an act of extraordinary senselessness. Again and again, he blames others and refuses to take responsibility. Only with a coordinated global response will we defeat this virus.”
Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association, urged Trump in the “strongest terms possible” to reverse the decision.
“This senseless action will have significant, harmful repercussions now and far beyond this perilous moment, particularly as the WHO is leading worldwide vaccine development and drug trials to combat the pandemic.”
The US plan to quit the WHO is its latest departure from multinational institutions and treaties since Trump took office nearly three and a half years ago. It has withdrawn from the Paris climate accord, the UN global compact on migration, the UN cultural and education body UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Council and the Iran nuclear deal.
Shortly after Trump announced the US plan to cut ties with the WHO, Ireland’s Minister for Health, Simon Harris, said that now more than ever the world needs multilateralism.
“Awful decision,” Harris said. “A global pandemic requires the world to work together.
“If we are looking for a villain, it’s simple — but it’s not any organization — it’s the virus. We should unite in our fight against it; not fight each other.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday that the European Union continues to support the WHO and urged Washington to reconsider its termination of ties with it.
Von der Leyen and Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in a statement that “the WHO needs to continue being able to lead the international response to pandemics, current and future . ... Actions that weaken international results must be avoided. In this context we urge the US to reconsider its announced decision.”
Richard Horton, editor in chief of the medical journal The Lancet, called the US withdrawal from WHO “madness and terrifying both at the same time”.
“The US government has gone rogue at a time of humanitarian emergency. All leaders must call for renewed international solidarity in support of multilateral cooperation.”