On Wednesday, the African Union expressed concern over President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, urging his administration to reconsider.
Just hours after taking office on Monday, Trump signed an executive order directing the US to exit the UN agency, a move that could leave global health initiatives underfunded.
African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat stated he was “dismayed to learn of the US government’s announcement to withdraw” from the Geneva-based WHO.
The United States is the largest financial contributor to the organization, and its withdrawal comes as Africa faces various health crises, including recent outbreaks of mpox and Marburg viruses.
“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, expressing hope that “the US government will reconsider its decision.”
He emphasized that Washington was an early supporter of the Africa CDC, the African Union’s health agency that collaborates with the WHO to address both current and emerging pandemics.
Trump has frequently criticized the WHO’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, previously stating that “World Health ripped us off.”
During Trump’s first term, the US had begun the process of leaving the WHO, but the move was reversed under Joe Biden’s administration.
Tom Frieden, a former senior US health official, commented on X that the withdrawal “weakens America’s influence, increases the risk of a deadly pandemic, and makes all of us less safe.”
This decision comes amid growing concerns about the pandemic potential of a bird flu outbreak, which has infected dozens and resulted in its first human fatality in the United States earlier this month.
WHO member states have been negotiating the world’s first treaty on managing future pandemics since late 2021 — negotiations now set to continue without the US.
