Under U.S. law, the country must provide one year’s notice and settle all outstanding financial obligations before the withdrawal can take effect.
The United States is set to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO), a decision that has drawn warnings from health experts and legal scholars about its potential impact on global disease prevention and response.
President Donald Trump notified the UN health agency of Washington’s intention to leave on the first day of his presidency in 2025 via an executive order, Reuters reports.
Under U.S. law, the country must provide one year’s notice and settle all outstanding financial obligations before the withdrawal can take effect.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the WHO’s failure “to contain, manage and share information” had cost the United States trillions of dollars, adding that the president had exercised his authority to pause the future transfer of U.S. government funds, support or resources to the organisation.
“The American people have paid more than enough to this organisation and this economic hit is beyond a down payment on any financial obligations to the organisation,” the spokesperson said by email.
The WHO has said the United States has not yet paid the fees it owes for 2024 and 2025.
Member states are expected to discuss the U.S. departure and how it will be handled at the WHO executive board meeting in February, a WHO spokesperson told Reuters by email.
Legal experts have questioned the move. “This is a clear violation of U.S. law,” said Lawrence Gostin, founding director of the O’Neill Institute for Global Health Law at Georgetown University in Washington.
“But Trump is highly likely to get away with it.”
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged Washington to reconsider. “I hope the U.S. will reconsider and rejoin WHO,” he told reporters earlier this month. “Withdrawing from the WHO is a loss for the United States, and it’s a loss for the rest of the world.”
Speaking to Reuters at Davos, Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, said he did not expect the United States to return soon.
“I don’t think the U.S. will be coming back to WHO in the near future,” he said, adding that he would advocate for renewed engagement.
“The world needs the World Health Organisation.”
The U.S. withdrawal has triggered a budget crisis at the WHO, forcing the agency to cut its management team in half, scale back programmes and plan to shed around a quarter of its staff by the middle of the year.
Washington has traditionally been the organisation’s largest donor, contributing around 18% of its overall funding.
Although the WHO said it has continued working with the United States and sharing information over the past year, it remains unclear how collaboration will work going forward.
Public health experts warn the move could weaken global systems.
“The U.S. withdrawal from WHO could weaken the systems and collaborations the world relies on to detect, prevent, and respond to health threats,” said Kelly Henning, public health programme lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies.