Salvador Peiró
Epidemiologist, researcher in the Health Services and Pharmacoepidemiology Research Area of the Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of the Valencian Community (FISABIO) and Director of Gaceta Sanitaria, the scientific journal of the Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration (SESPAS)
The US withdrawal from WHO will have serious implications for global health and the planet. The US is one of the largest funders and historic leaders of the WHO and its absence will leave a gap in funding for critical programs such as mass vaccination, the fight against malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and response to health emergencies.
This will particularly affect developing countries, exacerbate global health inequalities and jeopardize decades of progress, but will also increase migration and certain health problems in developed countries.
U.S. withdrawal will also weaken the international cooperation needed to address global challenges such as pandemics and health crises, reducing the ability to react early to outbreaks, hindering the exchange of critical information and complicating the containment of future global threats. It also undermines trust in global institutions and will erode the effectiveness of international health governance.
Overall, in addition to jeopardizing global public health and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it will reduce the global response capacity to future pandemics and health crises, affecting not only the most vulnerable countries, but all of humanity, including the United States itself.