Tedros Refutes U.S. Government’s Justifications for Withdrawal from WHO
WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. X/ @KenRoth
February 3, 2025 Hour: 9:25 am
The World Health Organization is impartial and exists to serve all countries, he said.
On Monday, the director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reviewed the changes and measures adopted by his institution in recent years, dismantling the U.S. government’s arguments for justifying its withdrawal from the organization.
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From the failure to adopt urgent reforms and claims of excessive dues and alleged mismanagement to a supposed lack of independence from the “inappropriate political influence” of other member states, Tedros detailed a series of decisions and new ways of operating that demonstrate these accusations are baseless.
He recalled that “over the past seven years, the deepest and most comprehensive reforms in the Organization’s history have been implemented,” impacting all areas of its work and management. A total of 85 reforms have been adopted out of 97 proposals received from member states themselves.
“So we are carrying out many reforms, and additional ones are welcome,” Tedros stated on the first day of meetings of the WHO Executive Board, a body composed of 35 countries from all regions with the technical capacity to make decisions between annual assemblies.
Regarding the claims that the U.S. was making disproportionately large payments to fund the WHO, Tedros argued that reducing excessive dependence on a few traditional donors has been one of the main focus areas of the ongoing “transformation” since it was recognized years ago as a risk factor.
To address this, Tedros urged the Executive Board to support the proposal to increase mandatory contributions from member states to the WHO budget, which for the 2024-2025 biennium amounts to approximately US$6.8 billion, the majority of which consists of voluntary contributions.
Regarding allegations of “mismanagement” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic—accusations made by President Donald Trump—Tedros recalled the speed with which WHO teams reacted to early warnings of what China initially reported as “viral pneumonia.” This included emergency expert meetings and issuing guidelines for countries to protect themselves.
As for Trump’s claim that the WHO is under Chinese influence, Tedros emphasized that, like all United Nations agencies, the WHO is “impartial and exists to serve all countries,” assisting them as best as possible, as long as their requests are supported by scientific evidence.
Following his remarks, Tedros once again extended an invitation to Trump to reconsider his decision and engage in dialogue “to preserve and strengthen the historic relationship” between both parties.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
