US Cuts Ties and Funding to WHO

The United States formally completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday, a year after President Donald Trump ordered the exit. The move ends all US participation in the UN health agency but leaves behind an unpaid debt of roughly $260 million, according to reports in Bloomberg and Reuters.

The US department of health and human services (HHS) said all funding to the WHO has been terminated, and US personnel have been recalled from its headquarters and offices worldwide, reported Bloomberg. The country has also ended participation in WHO-sponsored leadership bodies, technical committees, and working groups.

The move comes after Trump signed the executive order on his first day in office for a second term, citing the WHO’s “mishandling of the Covid pandemic, failure to adopt reforms and a lack of independence from inappropriate political influence.”

‘No obligation to settle debt’

An administration official on Thursday denied that there was an obligation to settle the debt before withdrawal.

A senior HHS official told reporters that there is no statutory requirement for the US to settle outstanding debts before leaving the agency, even though a 1948 Congressional resolution mandates one year’s notice and payment of any dues.

Despite completing the formal exit, the US has not paid dues for 2024 and 2025. According to the WHO, the US owed about $260 million as of January 2025. However, as associated Press report said the debt amount is over $130 million, citing a WHO official.

WHO left without its top donor

The Washington’s exit deprives the WHO of its largest contributor. According to a Bloomberg report, between 2022 and 2023, the US contributed nearly $1.3 billion to the organization.

“It’s a very messy divorce,” the news agency quoted Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University as saying.

Gostin warned, “The withdrawal will hurt the global response to new outbreaks and will hobble the ability of US scientists and pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines and medicines against new threats. In my opinion, it’s the most ruinous presidential decision in my lifetime.”

Global health consequences

The WHO is the United Nations’ specialized health agency tasked with coordinating responses to global health threats, providing technical support to poorer nations, distributing vaccines and treatments, and setting health guidelines. Nearly every country in the world is a member.

Experts say US withdrawal could cripple initiatives ranging from polio eradication to maternal and child health programs and emerging virus research.

Dr Ronald Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called the move “shortsighted and misguided” and “scientifically reckless.”

By ceasing participation in WHO committees and technical groups, the US has also lost access to global flu data, which informs vaccine decisions and allows Americans to act quickly during outbreaks.