The United States has terminated its membership in World Health Organization. The US was a founding member of WHO and had maintained membership for 78 years.
The move is “due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states,” according to a joint announcement from the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of State.
The exit caps an ongoing back and forth over US membership in the organization since 2020, when President Trump (during his first administration) issued a “Notification of Withdrawal” (PDF) to the WHO. Prior to being finalized, however, the move was rescinded by the Biden administration in 2021 in a “Withdrawal of Notification of Withdrawal” (PDF).
Then, in January 2025, shortly after being sworn into office for his second term, President Trump signed Executive Order 14155 to renew the US withdrawal.
HHS says that during the yearlong process since the order, “the US stopped funding WHO, withdrew all personnel from WHO, and began pivoting activities previously conducted with WHO to direct bilateral engagements with other countries and organizations.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a joint statement accusing the WHO of “[abandoning] its core mission.”
“Like many international organizations, the WHO abandoned its core mission and acted repeatedly against the interests of the United States. Although the United States was a founding member and the WHO’s largest financial contributor, the organization pursued a politicized, bureaucratic agenda driven by nations hostile to American interests. In doing so, the WHO obstructed the timely and accurate sharing of critical information that could have saved American lives and then concealed those failures under the pretext of acting “in the interest of public health.”
Public Health Response
According to a report by BBC news, the WHO rejected the above claims from Rubio and Kennedy and reported that WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “the withdrawal was as a loss for the US and the world.”
Elsewhere, public health experts expressed their disappointment, and cautioned it could lead to greater global disease burden and more difficulty responding to future infectious disease pandemics.
In a statement, Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) president Ronald G. Nahass, MD, MHCM, FIDSA, called the US withdrawal “scientifically reckless” and a “shortsighted and misguided abandonment.”
“Global cooperation and communication are critical to keep our own citizens protected because germs do not respect borders,” Nahass said. “By withdrawing from WHO, the US will no longer participate in the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, the vital platform for monitoring flu cases and sharing data and viral samples used to develop yearly flu vaccines. This will severely hamper efforts to match vaccines to circulating strains of flu. … Global cooperation is not a luxury; it is a biological necessity.”
A day after the US withdrawal, California announced it would join the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network (GOARN), an international network of public health institutions, national governments, academic centers, laboratories, and response organizations worldwide.
The move was announced by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who blasted the US withdrawal from WHO:
“The Trump administration’s withdrawal from WHO is a reckless decision that will hurt all Californians and Americans. California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring. We will continue to foster partnerships across the globe and remain at the forefront of public health preparedness, including through our membership as the only state in WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network.”
According to the Hill, other states are considering membership in GOARN, whose mission is to rapidly detect, verify, assess, and respond to emerging public health threats – particularly those with cross-border or pandemic potential.
