Mint Explainer US Exits WHO: What It Means For Global Health And America

(MENAFN- Live Mint)

The US has formally withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), a year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin the process.

The move deprives the global health body of its largest donor and deepens a funding crisis that WHO officials warn is already disrupting essential health services worldwide. Public health experts say the decision could weaken both global health security and public health in the US.

Mint explains what has changed, why it happened, and what it means.

What has happened?

The US announced on 22 January 2026 that it has completed its withdrawal from the WHO, a year after President Trump signed an executive order on 20 January 2025 directing the government to initiate the exit, a step he had also attempted during his first term in 2020 over the organization's“response to Covid-19".

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Over the past year, Washington has terminated all funding to the WHO, and US personnel and contractors assigned to or embedded with the agency have been recalled from WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and from WHO offices worldwide, according to a fact sheet released by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Thursday.

Hundreds of US engagements with WHO have been suspended or discontinued, and the country has ceased official participation in WHO-sponsored committees, leadership bodies, governance structures, and technical working groups, the HHS said.

Why did the US leave?

The Trump administration said it withdrew from the WHO because of“the organization's mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states," according to an HHS statement.

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In a joint statement, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the WHO of not sharing“critical information that could have saved American lives" during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The administration has also argued that the WHO demands unfairly high payments from the US relative to other countries.“China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300% of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90% less to the WHO," the White House executive order of 20 January 2025 stated.

The WHO is funded mainly through assessed contributions – membership dues paid by countries as a percentage of their gross domestic product, as decided by the United Nations General Assembly – and voluntary contributions from governments and other partners. Assessed contributions account for less than 20% of the organization's overall budget.

What is the dispute now?

While the US has historically been the WHO's largest donor in both assessed and voluntary contributions, it has not paid its fees for 2024 and 2025, leaving $260 million in unpaid dues.

The WHO has argued that the US is permitted to withdraw only after fulfilling its financial obligations for the current fiscal year. The US State Department disputes this interpretation, with an official telling Reuters on Thursday that“the American people have paid more than enough."

“In recent years, US assessed contributions (mandatory dues) averaged approximately $111 million annually. In addition, the United States provided voluntary contributions averaging roughly $570 million per year-amounting to billions of dollars over time-often exceeding the combined contributions of many other member states," the HHS said.

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How will this impact the WHO?

In 2022-23, the US contributed $1.284 billion to the WHO, accounting for roughly 12-15% of the agency's total budget.

The loss of US funding has already pushed the organization into a financial crisis. The WHO projects its workforce could shrink by up to 22% by mid-2026, according to a Reuters report from November 2025.

The agency expects to cut 2,371 posts by June 2026 from 9,401 positions in January 2025, in addition to retirements and other exits. It also faces a $1.06 billion gap in its 2026-27 budget.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said in May that the organization is confronting“the greatest disruption to global health financing in memory" as contributions fall across the board. In November, the WHO issued guidance for countries on coping with funding cuts that are“disrupting the delivery of essential health services in many countries."

What do public health experts say?

Public health experts have condemned the US withdrawal, warning that it will weaken global health security and harm public health in the US.

“A weaker World Health Organization means a less safe US," said Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and former New York City health commissioner, in a post on X, noting that the WHO is the only organization enabling global tracking of health threats.

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Public health organizations have also cautioned that reduced coordination will leave all countries more vulnerable.

“This decision risks undermining decades of progress...Without [the US], the organization's ability to address global health emergencies will be significantly weakened, endangering health everywhere," said Michele Bratcher Goodwin and Lawrence O. Gostin, co-faculty directors of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, in a statement.

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