The Trump administration has formally notified the United Nations of its decision to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization, breaking off ties with the global health body amidst the raging coronavirus pandemic.
President Donald Trump said he was halting funding to the organisation in mid-April and announced his intention to withdraw from the WHO in May after he said it “failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms.”
The US has also accused the WHO of siding with China on the outbreak of the virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, alleging the health body misled the world resulting in deaths of over half a million people globally, including over 130,000 in America alone.
“China has total control over the World Health Organization,” President Trump said in May. He has also alleged that the Chinese government tried to cover-up of the coronavirus pandemic’s origins.
In April, the US stopped funding to WHO as the Trump administration reviewed the ties. A month later, President Donald Trump announced the US was terminating the relationship.
“I can say that on 6 July 2020, the United States of America notified the secretary-general, in his capacity as depositary of the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization, of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, effective on 6 July 2021,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, in a statement.
Dujarric said the secretary-general is in the process of verifying with the WHO whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met.