President Donald Trump has officially launched the procedure to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), which he accuses of having been slow to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. This was what US officials said on Tuesday: "Congress has received notification that the president has officially removed the United States from WHO in the midst of a pandemic," Robert Menendez wrote on Twitter. Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
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The notification will be effective after a period of one year, July 6, 2021, said several officials of the United States government, the largest contributor to the UN organization. It was sent to the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, "who is the depositary for the WHO," they said. The United Nations also confirmed that it received the US withdrawal letter on Monday.
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The spokesperson for Antonio Guterres clarified that the United States, founding members of the WHO in 1948, had to fulfill two conditions to withdraw from the organization: to respect a deadline of one year and to be up to date in their contributions. The announcement was castigated by the Federation of American Scientists. It intervenes "at a time when there is the greatest need for international cooperation" and this withdrawal "will only harm the world fight against Covid-19", she reacted.
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The American president had announced at the end of May "to put an end to the relationship" between his country and the WHO, which he accuses since the beginning of the pandemic of being too lenient with China, where the coronavirus appeared in December before spread across the planet. The United States, which contributes 15% of the budget of the UN agency and is by far the largest funder, will "redirect these funds to other urgent and global public health needs which deserve them," had- he told the press.