July 08, 2020

Anna Murray 

The Trump administration stated a notification to officially leave the World Health Organization (WHO) to the United Nations and Congress. After revealing this information, the Trump administration received several comments related to this decision. 

During this pandemic, the United States President Trump repeatedly stated his decision of leaving the WHO. Mr. Trump initially stated his decision in May 2010. He denounced that the Chinese government did not disclose the information about COVID-19 accurately and transparently. This caused the WHO did not collect the right information to prevent this virus. 

Some lawmakers and health experts presented disagreement on leaving WHO. Experts criticized the disorganized management of the WHO, but now this world needs the WHO to operate accurately to develop vaccine and to distribute medical equipment globally. According to the Elizabeth Cousense, the president and CEO of the UN Foundation stated that WHO is irreplaceable to defeat Covid-19. It is not a wise choice for Mr. Trump to leave the WHO since this battle is not done yet. 

Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, also opposed Mr. Trump’s decision. Mr. Alexander also stated that if the Trump administration has an alternative to reform WHO, it should propose to the Congress to make his plan doable. 

On twitter, Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote that leaving WHO is not a good decision to protect Americans’ life; on the other hand, it will put American in a tremendous risk, especially at this moment. 

According to the spokesperson of the United Nations, it is now processing this notification and verifies the withdrawal conditions. It will take effect in Next July. However, Joe Biden, Democratic presidential nominee, stated that he would rejoin the WHO on his first day of Presidency.