US president Donald Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Geneva based World Health Organization.
The US is its biggest funder. It pays around a fifth of the entire budget, roughly USD 1.3bn.
Trump has always criticised the organisation, saying it mishandled covid and says the payments the US makes are ‘unfair.’
The withdrawal means US health agencies will lose access to WHO data.
An emerging infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Amesh Adalja, says that will seriously hamper the US in having a situational awareness of diseases.