The United States has formally exited the World Health Organisation (WHO), citing the global health body’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its failure to implement key reforms, the White House announced on Thursday.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of State explained that the withdrawal stems from “the organisation’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would “be coordinating with WHO solely in a limited fashion to effectuate withdrawal.”
The withdrawal process was set in motion on January 20, 2025, when President Donald Trump first announced plans to leave the organisation. Over the past year, the U.S. halted funding, withdrew personnel, and shifted activities previously conducted with WHO to direct engagements with other countries and organisations.
The White House criticised WHO for delaying the declaration of a global public health emergency during the early stages of COVID-19, which it said “cost[ ] the world critical weeks as the virus spread.” The statement also accused WHO leadership of having “echoed and praised China’s response despite evidence of early underreporting, suppression of information and delays in confirming human-to-human transmission.”
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Further criticism included WHO’s handling of transmission risks, with the organisation having “downplayed asymptomatic transmission risks and failed to promptly acknowledge airborne spread.”
The statement also faulted WHO for neglecting reforms after the pandemic, noting, “Its report evaluating the possible origins of COVID-19 rejected the possibility that scientists created the virus, even though China refused to provide genetic sequences from individuals infected early in the pandemic and information on the Wuhan laboratories’ activities and biosafety conditions.”