As of President Donald Trump’s first day back in office Monday, the United States is leaving the World Health Organization. Some local experts think such a move might leave Spokane and the United States unprepared for the next pandemic.

This afternoon, the Associated Press is reporting that United States officials have officially ordered all public health officers to cease working at the World Health Organization just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order pulling the United States out of the World Health Organization.

More than half of Americans believe the U.S. benefits from its membership in the WHO. As of April 2024, 25% of U.S. adults say the country benefits a great deal from its membership, while about one third say it benefits a fair amount. Conversely, 38% say the U.S. does not benefit much or at all from WHO membership.

The ending of the commitment to the World Health Organization by the United States poses as an existential threat to the well-being of the international working class.

WHO’s constitution, drafted in New York, doesn’t have a clear exit method for member states. A joint resolution by Congress in 1948 outlined that the U.S. can withdraw with one year's notice. This is contingent, however, on ensuring that its financial obligations to WHO “shall be met in full for the organization’s current fiscal year.”

We've heard about the threat that United States tariffs pose to Canadian economic security. But a different kind of insecurity now looms with new leadership from our southern neighbors: insecurity in global health.

Public health experts say the United States’ departure could cripple the WHO’s operations or leave an opening for China to assume greater control over the agency.

One of President Trump’s first executive orders removes the U.S. from the global health organization, which experts say is “cataclysmic.”

The newly minted department has lost a co-chair and legal counsel and faces several lawsuits. Some Trump loyalists are questioning Mr. Musk’s focus, while others wonder if he is too enthralled with the political limelight or only trying to advance his business empire.

United States will be losing access to the WHO database of changing influenza strains resulting in less effective flu vaccination strategies.

Public health experts evaluate the global and financial impact of the U.S. leaving the World Health Organization.