US officially leaves World Health Organization

The US has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), leaving the UN agency without one of its biggest donors.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order signalling the withdrawal a year ago, having criticised the organisation for being too "China-centric" during the Covid pandemic.

The US Department of Health and Human Services said it took the decision due to the WHO's alleged "mishandling" of the pandemic, an inability to reform and political influence from member states.

The WHO has rejected these claims and its director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the withdrawal was as a loss for the US and the world.

The organisation pointed to its global efforts to combat polio, HIV aids, maternal mortality, and its international treaty on tobacco control.

"The WHO tarnished and trashed everything that America has done for it," a joint statement from US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy and Secretary of State Marco Rubio read.

The pair said the organisation had "abandoned its core mission and acted repeatedly against the interests of the United States", including failing to return the American flag based at its Geneva headquarters.

"Going forward, U.S. engagement with the WHO will be limited strictly to effectuate our withdrawal and to safeguard the health and safety of the American people," they added.

The US department said it would have bilateral relations with other countries to ensure disease surveillance and pathogen sharing, but were unable to provide information about which specific countries they had such links with so far.

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Source: BBC News, 23 January 2026