President Donald Trump announced the beginning of the process of ending US membership of the World Health Organization (WHO) on his inauguration day on January 20. The Government will review, repeal, and replace the 2024 US Global Health Security Strategy as soon as possible.

“The World Health Organization betrayed us,” Trump, the 47th US President, said in front of reporters while signing the executive orders. He has previously said the US is paying more than China to fund the health body, and how the WHO has mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.

This idea of ​​ending US membership is not unexpected, as it stems from 2020, when during the COVID-19 pandemic, he repeatedly criticized the WHO for working slowly and being “owned and controlled by China” .

The consequences of this incident are significant, especially since the US has been a major financial contributor to WHO since 1948. The US contributed about 18% of WHO’s total funding. Its most recent two-year budget, for 2024–2025, was $6.8 billion.

But not only would WHO lose its biggest donor, the US withdrawal would also cause Americans to lose vital information from the global health agency that could pose a major threat to the country.

Not just WHO, even the US will potentially have to face consequences because of Trump’s executive order.

According to many experts inside and outside WHO, the US departure could put various programs in danger. He noted that people living with tuberculosis, the world’s largest infectious disease, and HIV/AIDS and other health emergencies may be at higher risk due to exposure.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – the official health agency – will lose easy access to global and critical data provided by WHO. This step may affect American health care.

WHO monitors global health threats, develops and evaluates the effectiveness of new vaccines and medicines, coordinates the response to emerging health crises and ongoing issues, and provides expert assistance to countries, especially as they respond to health emergencies. Let’s face it.

During these decisions, America will lose a seat at the table when health standards are set and disease responses are decided.

In 2020, Lois Pace, director of the Global Health Council, a US-based NGO, told Forbes that leaving WHO withheld essential funding or technical assistance to Americans “could jeopardize polio eradication and other vaccination campaigns.” Not to mention the work of prevention or control.” Infectious diseases – left unchecked – put us at risk of another wave of economic and humanitarian consequences.”

The move is a major blow to the World Health Organization as many health experts have criticized Trump’s assumption.

Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University and director of WHO’s Center for Global Health Law, told NPR that the US withdrawal is “the most devastating decision.”

He said, “(It) is a serious wound to American national interests and our national security. It will literally blindside our agencies like the CDC and the NIH (National Institutes of Health).”

The move means the US will leave WHO in a year and will stop all financial contributions to its work.

During Trump’s first presidential term, he halted funding to the WHO. But even before the completion of one year, Joe Biden took over as President and reversed the order.

Trump’s order says the administration will stop negotiations on the WHO pandemic treaty while the withdrawal continues.

According to the order, US government personnel working with WHO will be recalled and reassigned, and the government will seek partners to take over WHO’s essential activities.