EYE-ON-USA: How US, Argentina’s Withdrawal from WHO Impacts Global Health

By Ed Malik, A | ed@ddnewsonline.com | posted 7th february, 2025

Like a compliant kid, Argentina has followed in the footsteps of Donald Trump by dramatically announcing it will pull out of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The move aligns with President Trump’s executive order last week, which declared America would no longer be part of the international health body.

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Argentina’s bombshell announcement was unveiled during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon by the country’s presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni.

Mr. Adorni said President Javier Milei’s decision was based on ‘deep differences regarding health management especially during the Covid-19 pandemic’.

He said the WHO’s pandemic management, along with decisions made by former President Alberto Fernández, ‘led [Argentina] to the longest lockdown in human history’ and to Buenos Aires being subject to ‘certain countries’ political influence’.

Self-declared ‘anarcho-capitalist’ Milei is an avowed fan of President Trump, who signed an order within hours of his January 20 inauguration for the US to withdraw from the WHO, which he has also slammed for its handling of the pandemic.

President Trump said he withdrew America from the UN body because he believes the US was being ripped off by the organization, describing the federal government’s overpayments over the years as ‘onerous’.

He compared the $500 million the US contributes to the WHO each year to the $39 million China pays, despite China’s 1.4 billion population being over four times that of the US.

Trump said withdrawing from the WHO, one of his first executive orders signed within hours of his inauguration on Monday January 20, was due to a ‘failure to adopt urgently needed reforms.’

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The President had previously has repeatedly called the health body a puppet of Beijing for failing to hold China accountable for the early spread of Covid-19.

America’s withdrawal from the WHO marked a dramatic shift in US global health policy and could further isolate Washington from international efforts to battle pandemics.

The departure also denies the healthy body of its biggest donor with the US providing the WHO with about 16 per cent of its funding in 2022-23.

The move came four years after Trump first attempted to withdraw from the health body during the Covid-19 pandemic, a move that was ultimately aborted by President Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

Speaking of the withdrawal from WHO, former White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said Trump’s team wanted to move faster this time around than four years ago.

‘There are lots of people who are going to be part of the inner circle of the administration who do not trust the WHO and want to symbolically show on day one that they are out,’ he told the Financial Times.

However, the President Trump appeared to row back on the idea of cutting ties with the WHO for good. Speaking during a rally in Las Vegas ‘ Circa Resort & Casino at the end of last month, the 78-year-old leader of the free world admitted he was considering U-turning the withdrawal just days after he signed the executive order to do so, suggesting that he would ‘consider doing it again’, but was far from committal.

‘I don’t know, they have to clean it up a bit,’ he added.

Announcing Argentina’s own decision to quit the WHO, presidential spokesman Mr Adorni said the country does not receive funding from the international group for healthcare management, and that the move would therefore not imply cuts.

‘It will not affect the quality of healthcare services,’ he said.
‘On the contrary, it provides the country with more flexibility to implement policies that are adapted to the context of interests that Argentina requires, and more availability of resources,’ Adorni continued. ‘It reinforces our path as a country with healthcare sovereignty.’

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A statement by the presidential communications team, released on X minutes after Adorni’s press conference said the WHO promoted ‘never-ending lockdowns’ during the pandemic ‘without any scientific evidence’.

‘Today, scientific evidence indicates that the WHO’s rulebook does not work because it’s the result of political influence,’ the statement continued, adding the organisation ‘limits countries’ sovereignty’.

In addition to the WHO withdrawal, Argentina is also ‘analysing leaving the Paris Agreement’ on climate change, Adorni added.

NOTE: This story referenced Syndigate Media.