U.S. officially withdraws from enhanced WHO pandemic response
July 18 (UPI) -- The United States officially won't be involved in an enhanced pandemic global response enacted by the World Health Organization, the Trump administration said Friday.
The International Health Regulations Amendments approved on June 1, 2024, would allow the WHO to authorize lockdowns, travel restrictions or other measures regarding "public health risks" but not require them.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a new release WHO would have the "ability to order global lockdowns" as part of the reforms.
A total of 194 member states, including the United States, plus Liechtenstein and the Vatican negotiated the amendments.
After taking office for his second term on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump officially announced the United States would pull out of WHO by January 2026.
On March 20, WHO member nations by a 124-0 vote adopted the 33-page first "Pandemic Agreement" but the United States didn't participate. This separate agreement from the amendments would strengthen the global health architecture for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response."
The amendments are binding Saturday if not rejected by nations, regardless of whether the United States withdraws from WHO. It was adopted by consensus without a vote of the 77th World Health Assembly.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued statements on the formal rejection. Earlier, the Trump administration said it wouldn't adhere to the amendments.
"The proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations open the door to the kind of narrative management, propaganda, and censorship that we saw during the COVID pandemic," Kennedy said. "The United States can cooperate with other nations without jeopardizing our civil liberties, without undermining our Constitution, and without ceding away America's treasured sovereignty."
Kennedy also spoke in a video explaining the action.
As did Rubio: "Terminology throughout the amendments to the 2024 International Health Regulations is vague and broad, risking WHO-coordinated international responses that focus on political issues like solidarity, rather than rapid and effective actions," Rubio said. "Our Agencies have been and will continue to be clear: 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."
Republicans in Congress applaud the decision.
"The COVID-19 pandemic exposed how the incompetency and corruption at the WHO demands comprehensive reforms," Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said. "Instead of addressing its disastrous public health policies during COVID, the WHO wants International Health Regulation amendments and a pandemic treaty to declare public health emergencies in member states, which could include failed draconian responses like business and school closures and vaccine mandates."
The amendments define what constitutes a pandemic emergency and how it can be triggered. There would also be information-sharing between countries across the world and WHO.
And poorer nations would have access to medical products to "equitably address the needs and priorities of developing countries."
The COVID-19 pandemic officially killed 7 million people but WHO estimates the toll to be 20 million since the virus was first detected in China in December 2019. Most nations, including the United States, are no longer tracking coronavirus cases, he said.
"And on top of the human cost, the pandemic wiped more than US $10 trillion from the global economy," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyes, the director-general of WHO, said.
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