Trump pulls US from World Health pandemic reforms
Trump on returning to office on January 20 immediately began his nation's withdrawal from the UN body, but the State Department said the language from last year would still have been binding on the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who is a longtime critic of vaccines, said the changes 'risk unwarranted interference with our national sovereign right to make health policy.'
'We will put Americans first in all our actions and we will not tolerate international policies that infringe on Americans' speech, privacy or personal liberties,' they said in a joint statement.
Rubio and Kennedy disassociated the United States from a series of amendments to the International Health Regulations, which provide a legal framework for combatting diseases, agreed last year at the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
'We regret the US decision to reject the amendments,' WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement posted on X.
He stressed the amendments 'are clear about member states sovereignty,' adding that the WHO cannot mandate lockdowns or similar measures.
The changes included a stated 'commitment to solidarity and equity' in which a new group would study the needs of developing countries in future emergencies.
Countries have until Saturday to lodge reservations about the amendments. Conservative activists and vaccine skeptics in Britain and Australia, which both have left-leaning governments, have waged public campaigns against the changes.
The amendments came about when the Assembly failed at a more ambitious goal of sealing a new global agreement on pandemics.
Most of the world finally secured a treaty this May, but the United States did not participate as it was in the process of withdrawing from the WHO.
The United States, then under president Joe Biden, took part in the May-June 2024 negotiations, but said it could not support consensus as it demanded protections for US intellectual property rights on vaccine development.
Rubio's predecessor Antony Blinken had welcomed the amendments as progress.
In their rejection of the amendments, Rubio and Kennedy said the changes 'fail to adequately address the WHO's susceptibility to the political influence and censorship – most notably from China – during outbreaks.'
WHO's Ghebreyesus said the body is 'impartial and works with all countries to improve people's health.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Pakistan's finance minister heads to US to finalize trade deal
Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has left for his second visit to the United States in two weeks to finalize a trade deal with Washington, his office said late on Monday. The trip comes after Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that the US and Pakistan were 'very close' to a trade deal that could come within days, but comments from the US after Dar met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned no timeline. 'A final discussion on the Pakistan-US trade dialogue will take place during the visit,' Pakistan's Finance Ministry said in a statement, adding that a trade agreement will benefit both countries. Aurangzeb said he held 'productive trade talks' in meetings with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer during his previous visit on July 18. The negotiations, focused on reciprocal tariffs, are part of a broader push to reset economic ties at a time of shifting geopolitical alignments and Islamabad's efforts to avoid steep US duties on exports. Pakistan faces a 29 percent tariff on exports to the US under President Donald Trump's measures to target countries with large trade surpluses with Washington. Pakistan's surplus was around $3 billion in 2024. To offset the imbalance and ease tariff pressures, Islamabad has offered to import more US goods, including crude oil, and to open up investment opportunities through concessions for US firms in Pakistan's mining sector. US-Pakistan relations enjoyed a major boost when Trump hosted Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House last month for an unprecedented meeting. Pakistan aims to expand bilateral trade relations into both traditional and non-traditional sectors, the finance ministry said. There is significant potential for partnerships in key sectors such as information technology, minerals, and agriculture, it added.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Pakistan's deputy PM discusses tariffs, bilateral ties with Rubio amid trade talks
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar discussed bilateral relations and tariffs with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week, the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement, as Islamabad gears up for its 'final' round of trade talks with Washington. Pakistan and the US have been engaged in talks after Washington announced a 29 percent 'reciprocal tariff' on Pakistani exports in April. Islamabad said the move, paused on April 9 for a 90-day period, may undercut its fragile, export-led recovery. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb left for the US on Monday to hold a 'final' round of talks with Washington, the Pakistani finance ministry said a day earlier. Dar spoke to Rubio over the telephone on Monday, the Pakistani foreign ministry said. The Pakistani deputy premier met the US official in Washington last Friday in a face-to-face meeting, during which Rubio recognized Pakistan's role for peace in the region. Dar had pointed out that this was the first time in nine years that the foreign ministers of the US and Pakistan had met each other. 'Following up on their productive meeting last Friday in Washington D.C., they discussed key bilateral matters, including tariffs, as well as regional & global issues of mutual interest,' the foreign ministry said about Dar's telephone call with Rubio. Pakistan sees the tariffs issue as an important one, considering the US is Islamabad's key trading partner. The US is Pakistan's top export destination, with shipments totaling $5.44 billion in fiscal year 2023-2024, according to official data. From July 2024 to February 2025, exports rose 10 percent from a year earlier. Aurangzeb's visit to the US to discuss trade and tariffs is his second to the country this month. The finance minister last week said Islamabad and Washington were exploring a shift in their economic engagement, anchored in long-term investment. Pakistan's government has pushed for trade and economic ties with regional countries and traditional allies in recent months. The main motivation behind Islamabad's decision to pursue foreign investment and economic ties is a prolonged macroeconomic crisis that has drained Pakistan's resources. While the South Asian country has made certain economic gains over the past two years, which includes a reduced inflation rate, Pakistan hopes to achieve a sustained economic growth driven by exports and long-term financial reforms.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
One killed in Ukrainian drone attack on Russia
A Ukrainian drone attack on southern Russia killed one person, the region's acting governor said Tuesday. 'A car was damaged on Ostrovsky Street. Unfortunately, the driver who was in it died,' Yuri Sliusar, acting governor of the Rostov region, said in a post on Telegram. He said the attack had targeted several locations, including Salsk, Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Volgodonsk, Bokovsky, Tarasovsky, and Slyusar. Drone debris also fell on Salsk station, damaging both a freight train and a passenger train, with passengers evacuated. No casualties were reported. Kyiv has been trying to repel Russia's summer offensive, which has made fresh advances into areas largely spared since the start of the war in 2022. Over the weekend, the Russian army said its forces had 'liberated the settlement of Maliyevka' in Dnipropetrovsk, weeks after it seized the first village in the region. US President Donald Trump on Monday gave Moscow a deadline of 'about 10 or 12 days' to end the conflict in Ukraine or face tough sanctions.
