US formally withdraws from WHO amidst the pandemic
WASHINGTON: The Trump government has officially declared the United Nations it’s decision to withdraw the United States from World Health Organisations (WHO) on Tuesday 6th July 2020 amidst the severe ongoing Corona Virus pandemic.
The US is breaking off ties and will leave the Geneva-based health regulatory body on 6th July 2021.
Trump administration halted the funding to 194-member organisation in mid-April and announced his intentions a month later in a May 18 letter, gave WHO 30 days to make the effective and needed reforms.
The US has to pay Washington’s dues under a joint resolution of the US Congress. The US currently owes $200 million to the WHO in its contributions, according to WHO website.
The US is apparently the single largest contributor to the WHO, donating over $450 million annually whereas China’s contribution to the universal health body is about $40 million per annum, one-tenth of that of US.
President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of taking sides with China during escalating Corona Virus pandemic, claiming the WHO to mislead the world about that virus which resulted in over a million deaths globally including 130,000 deaths alone in America.
“China has total control over the World Health Organization,” President Trump said in May.
After almost a 70-year membership US decides to terminate its relationship with WHO and accuses China of hiding the place of origin of the virus. The virus that originated in a Chinese city of Wuhan last year.
“I can say that on 6 July 2020, the United States of America notified the secretary-general, in his capacity as depository of the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization, of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, effective on 6 July 2021,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, in a statement.
Dujarric said the secretary-general is in the process of verifying with the WHO whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met.
Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee tweeted that Congress has received notification that President Trump has officially withdrew the US from the WHO.
The United States has been a member of WHO since June 21, 1948.
Its participation was accepted by the World Health Assembly with certain conditions set out by the US for its eventual withdrawal from this world body.
The said conditions include giving a one-year notice, meaning the withdrawal won’t go into effect until July 6 next year, raising the possibility the Trump administration’s decision could be reversed by a new government after the presidential elections in November this year.
Joe Biden, who will stand against Trump in a presidential elections on November 3rd this year tweeted: “On my first day as President, I will rejoin the WHO and restore our leadership on the world stage.”
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi described Trump’s official withdrawal as “an act of true senselessness as WHO coordinates the global fight against COVID-19.”
“With millions of lives at risk, the President is crippling the international effort to defeat the virus,” the Democratic leader posted on Twitter.
So far there have been nearly 12 million cases of the corona virus and more than 540,000 known deaths worldwide, according to a Reuters tally, with about 25% of both cases and deaths in the United States.
Since taking office, Trump has also quit the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. cultural agency, a global accord to tackle climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. He has also cut funding for the U.N. population fund and the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees.
