World Health Organization reports adverse effects following US withdrawal

On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump resumed America's withdrawal from the scandal-plagued World Health Organization — a departure Trump initiated in his first term that was delayed for four years by the Biden administration. Days later, the administration ordered U.S. public health officials to stop working with the WHO.

Since American taxpayers will no longer be on the hook for funding over 15% of the organization's annual budget, the WHO is scrambling to adapt, laying off workers, closing clinics, and killing programs.

According to an internal WHO memo seen by Reuters, the organization — facing an income gap of $600 million in 2026 when the withdrawal takes effect — is looking to slash its budget for 2026-27 by 21%, from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion.

"The United States' announcement, combined with recent reductions in official development assistance by some countries to fund increased defence spending, has made our situation much more acute," said the memo, which was signed by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"Despite our best efforts, we are now at the point where we have no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce," added the memo.

'WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States.'

In his Jan. 21 executive order, Trump recalled his initial reasons for leaving the organization, namely "the organization's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states."

Trump noted further that the "WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries' assessed payments. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO."

In early February, Ghebreyesus begged the Trump administration to reconsider, stating he would welcome the opportunity "to preserve and strengthen the historic relationship between WHO and the US."

Ghebreyesus suggested that contrary to Trump's characterization, the WHO was a reformed organization whose heavy financial reliance on the U.S. was short-term. The director-general also suggested that the WHO was not politically compromised by China and had not mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Drastic cuts to development aid by the U.S. and other countries represent a huge disruption.'

Growing increasingly desperate, Ghebreyesus pleaded again for a reversal of fortunes on Feb. 11, stating, "We regret the announcement by the United States, of its intention to withdraw, and it was also sad to see them participating less this week. I think we all felt their absence."

"We very much hope they would reconsider, and we would welcome the opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue," added Ghebreyesus.

It appears the WHO — which Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently called a "very nefarious organization" — has since accepted the fact that the U.S. and its money are not making a return.

According to the Brussels Times, the WHO is executing a hiring freeze, a ban on nonessential travel, and renegotiations of supply contracts.

Ghebreyesus noted in the internal memo, "Drastic cuts to development aid by the U.S. and other countries represent a huge disruption for countries, NGOs, and U.N. organisations, including the WHO."

The organization's executive board, composed of 34 member states, recently recommended a 20% member fee hike to cover half of the WHO's budget by 2030, reported Agence France-Presse.

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