JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Monday was a long day for President Trump as he signed dozens of executive actions and orders. And then in the evening, an aide handed him another one.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: What is this one?
UNIDENTIFIED AIDE: Withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
TRUMP: Oh, that's a big one.
SUMMERS: The president then signed the order, initiating the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization. It will take a year for the process of withdrawal to be complete. NPR global health correspondent Fatma Tanis has this reaction from public health experts.
FATMA TANIS, BYLINE: The decision to withdraw didn't come as a surprise. Back in 2020, President Trump had started the process for pulling out of the organization, but President Biden reversed course when he took office six months later. This time, though, the scope of the order was broader, according to Brett Schaefer, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
BRETT SCHAEFER: Much broader than just withdrawing from the WHO. He immediately suspended funding. He also instructed the U.S. government to recall and reassign any USG personnel and contractors working with the WHO.
TANIS: The U.S. is the biggest financial contributor to the WHO and provides a lot of technical expertise. Critics of the WHO say it failed to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic and that the organization in general lacks transparency. President Trump says the U.S. pays a disproportionate amount to the WHO in assessed dues and that other countries like China need to pull more of the financial weight. In a statement, the WHO said, quote, "that it regrets the U.S. announcement and hopes it will reconsider."
Many global health experts say U.S. withdrawal is a big blow to global health security. Pete Baker is with the Center for Global Development. He says the WHO plays an important role in sharing data on infectious diseases and tackling epidemics.
PETE BAKER: They are a key player in making sure, you know, data is shared between countries on things like antimicrobial resistance - you know, the rise of the super bugs. This is of concern to all of us, and these bugs don't respect borders. They travel between countries easily, and the WHO is key to trying to move that issue forward. And so if they are less able to do that, then we're all more at risk.
TANIS: Without participating in the WHO, Baker says it's unclear how the U.S. will be able to communicate and coordinate responses to major global public health issues, such as the ongoing bird flu outbreak.
BAKER: This has never happened before. It's unprecedented. It may be the U.S. decides to do a bunch of bilateral arrangements on these issues or something, but I don't see how this is going to work.
TANIS: But Schaefer, with the Heritage Foundation, says the U.S. role in global health is far bigger than its membership in the WHO.
SCHAEFER: I think that a lot of the people that are out raising cries of alarm about this are not fully appreciating the role that the United States plays internationally.
TANIS: The U.S. provides $12 billion in global health assistance each year through other organizations like the United Nations and directly to low-income countries.
SCHAEFER: The fact that the executive order is focused very much on the WHO I think indicates that this is a specific organizational complaint.
TANIS: And it's not, he says, a revocation of U.S. support for international health.
Fatma Tanis, NPR News, Washington.
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