The US President Donald Trump has just signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization (WHO).
This is an aggressive start – even for Trump who is a returning president but critics have said he is feeling emboldened and vindicated by his unexpected political comeback, four years after being voted out of the White House.
“Oooh, that’s a big one,” the newly inaugurated US president who hit the ground running like popular track star, Usain Bolt said as he approved the document after arriving back at the White House.
It was one of his dozens of executive actions he put his signature to in his first day back in office and makes it the second time Trump has ordered a US withdrawal from the WHO.
Trump had been critical of how the international body handled Covid-19 pandemic response and began the process of pulling out from the Geneva-based institution during the pandemic. President Joe Biden later revoked that decision.
Carrying out this executive action on his inauguration day one makes it more likely the US will officially with madras from the World Health Organisation.
The WHO withdrawal order said the US was pulling out “due to the organization’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states”.
The executive order also revealed the withdrawal was the result of “unfairly onerous payments” the US made to the WHO, a United Nations body.
During Trump ‘s tenure in the White House, he was critical of the organization for being too “China-centric” in its tackling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The current US president accused the WHO of acting biased towards China in how it issued guidance during the outbreak.
Public health experts have reacted to this development, criticizing Trump’s decision to leave the WHO, and warning there could be consequences for Americans’ health.
Some experts have even suggested the move could threaten global health security and reverse progress made on fighting infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and Hiv & Aids.
In his inaugural address, Trump had said that it (his administration and government) was the beginning of “the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.”
