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The U.S. officially withdrew from the World Health Organization on January 22, a year after President Donald Tump signed an executive order vowing to end its membership in the international agency.
According to the WHO, the U.S. still owes some US$260 million in fees from its 2024-2025 membership. U.S. state officials dispute this. The fallout from the departure will be felt for years to come, both globally and domestically, writes public health scholar Jordan Miller, particularly when it comes to addressing threats like infectious diseases that don’t respect international borders.
Miller explains how the U.S. has played an instrumental role in the global community’s response to outbreaks like Ebola, Marburg and mpox. Without U.S. involvement it will be much more difficult to mount a multinational response to major public health crises like COVID-19. Furthermore, she writes, “the reputational damage done by the U.S. departure cannot be overstated.”
President Trump said last week that he had sent an “armada” of naval forces towards Iran, “just in case” he had to take action against Tehran.
Farah Jan, an expert on nuclear proliferation, warns that the risks of conflict between the U.S. and Tehran extend beyond Iran’s boundaries. Military strikes would send a worrying message to other nations with nuclear ambitions, that “security is only truly achieved through the possession of nuclear weapons -and not by negotiating them away or halting development before completion.”
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