The United States is set to formally withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday, despite warnings the move will harm both domestic and global health efforts and may violate U.S. law requiring Washington to settle roughly $260 million in outstanding dues to the U.N. agency.
President Donald Trump notified the WHO of the decision on the first day of his 2025 presidency through an executive order.
U.S. law mandates a one-year notice period and the full payment of all arrears before a withdrawal can take effect.
A State Department spokesperson said Thursday the administration holds the WHO responsible for failing to contain, manage and share critical information, a lapse it says cost the United States trillions of dollars.
The president, the spokesperson added, has exercised his authority to halt any future transfers of U.S. government funding, support or resources to the organization.
"The American people have paid more than enough to this organization, and this financial blow goes well beyond a down payment on any remaining obligations,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Quick return unlikely
Over the past year, many global health experts have urged a rethink, including WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"I hope the U.S. will reconsider and rejoin WHO,” he told reporters at a news conference earlier this month. "Withdrawing from WHO is a loss for the United States, and it’s a loss for the rest of the world.”
The WHO has also said the United States has not yet paid the fees it owes for 2024 and 2025.
Member states are set to discuss the U.S. departure and how it will be handled at the WHO’s executive board meeting in February, a WHO spokesperson told Reuters by email.
"This is a clear violation of U.S. law,” said Lawrence Gostin, founding director of the O’Neill Institute for Global Health Law at Georgetown University in Washington and a close observer of the WHO. "But Trump is highly likely to get away with it.”
Speaking to Reuters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation and a major funder of global health initiatives and some of the WHO’s work, said he did not expect the United States to reconsider in the short term.
"I don’t think the U.S. will be coming back to WHO in the near future,” Gates said, adding that he would advocate for it when given the opportunity. "The world needs the World Health Organization.”
What the departure means
For the WHO, the U.S. departure has triggered a budget crisis, forcing the agency to cut its management team in half, scale back programs and reduce budgets across departments.
Washington has traditionally been the U.N. health agency’s largest financial backer, contributing about 18% of its overall funding.
The WHO is also expected to shed about a quarter of its staff by midyear. The agency said it has continued working with the United States and sharing information over the past year, though it remains unclear how that collaboration will function going forward.
Global health experts say the withdrawal poses risks for the United States, the WHO and the world.
"The U.S. withdrawal from WHO could weaken the systems and collaborations the world relies on to detect, prevent and respond to health threats,” said Kelly Henning, public health program lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies, a U.S.-based nonprofit.