GENEVA: The World Health Organisation chief warned on Tuesday that Washington´s decision to withdraw from the UN health agency was dangerous for the United States and the rest of the world alike.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order just hours after returning to the White House on January 20, 2025, ordering his country´s exit from the WHO.
With the one-year withdrawal process due to reach completion next week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters he deeply regretted the move.
“Withdrawal from WHO is a loss for the United States, and it´s also a loss for the rest of the world,” he said, speaking from his agency´s Geneva headquarters. The withdrawal, he warned, “makes the US unsafe... and makes the rest of the world unsafe, so it´s not really the right decision”.
Tedros highlighted that “there are many things that are done through WHO that benefit the US... especially the health security issues”.
“I hope the US will reconsider its decision and rejoin.”
WHO´s chief legal officer Steve Solomon said it was a bit unclear when exactly the withdrawal would be official.
He explained to reporters that the WHO constitution does not include a withdrawal clause, but that Washington made arrangements in 1948 reserving the right to withdraw, under certain conditions.
