US formally withdraws from WHO

TIL Desk/World/Washington/ The Trump administration has formally notified the United Nations of its decision to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, officials said, breaking off ties with the global health body amid the expanding coronavirus pandemic.        

The US has accused the WHO of siding with China on the outbreak of the virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, alleging the health body misled the world resulting in deaths of over half a million people globally, including over 130,000 in America.           

In April, the US stopped funding to WHO as the Trump administration reviewed the ties. A month later, President Donald Trump announced the US was terminating the relationship. The US is the largest funder to the world health, contributing more than USD450 million per annum, while China’s contribution to the health body is about one-tenth of that of the US.               

“I can say that on 6 July 2020, the United States of America notified the secretary-general, in his capacity as depositary of the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization, of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, effective on 6 July 2021, said Stphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, in a statement.