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The African Union on Wednesday voiced its deep disappointment over President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization, calling on his administration to reevaluate the move and its global implications.
Within hours of assuming office on Monday, President Trump issued an executive order mandating the United States’ withdrawal from the UN agency, a move that raises serious concerns about the funding and continuity of critical global health initiatives.
African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat voiced his dismay in a statement, reacting to the U.S. government’s announcement to exit the Geneva-based WHO, a decision he suggested could hinder global health cooperation.
As the largest financial backer of the World Health Organization, Washington’s withdrawal is particularly concerning, especially as Africa grapples with multiple health emergencies, including recent outbreaks of mpox and Marburg viruses.
Read also: US To Sever Ties With WHO As Trump Signs Withdrawal Order
“Now more than ever, the world depends on WHO to carry out its mandate to ensure global public health security as a shared common good,” Moussa Faki said, adding he hopes “the US government will reconsider its decision”.
He said Washington was an early supporter of the Africa CDC, the African Union’s health watchdog which works with the WHO to counter present and emerging pandemics.
Trump has repeatedly criticised the WHO over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and said prior to his inauguration that “World Health ripped us off.”
The United States was in the process of withdrawing from the WHO during Trump’s first term, but the move was reversed under Joe Biden.
Tom Frieden, a former US senior health official, wrote on X that the withdrawal “weakens America’s influence, increases the risk of a deadly pandemic, and makes all of us less safe.”
It comes as fears grow of the pandemic potential of a bird flu outbreak, which has infected dozens and claimed its first human life in the United States earlier this month.
WHO member states have been negotiating the world’s first treaty on handling future pandemics since late 2021 — negotiations now set to proceed without the US.
