WASHNGTON, D.C.: Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America, has announced that the country has decided to withdraw from the World Health Organisation.
With the decision, the US withdraws all its financial and technical engagements with the international agency, dealing it an unprecedented blow. Trump has been criticising the international health agency for its seeming inability to deal with the pandemic.
Trump said in a brief statement from the White House, “Countless lives have been taken and profound economic hardship has been inflicted all around the globe.”
The decision has been panned by health experts worldwide, who are saying that it will impede over the international response to the virus. American Medical Association has in “strongest terms possible” dissuaded him and urging him to reverse the decision.
Five global health academics, in their joint commentary over the decision published in the Lancet medical journal, have elaborated WHO’s role in the international response, including the sharing and developing of the best practices to deal with the virus. Further, they said,, moves like these will undermine global health governance in the future.