 "WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Reuters File")
Days after President Donald Trump announced he is withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization, the UN health agency on Thursday informed its staff that it is freezing recruitment and slashing travel in response to the US move, which is its biggest funder.
According to a Politico report, in an email sent on Thursday night, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told staff, “As you know, the United States of America has announced that it intends to withdraw from WHO. We regret this decision and hope the new administration will reconsider it.”
“This announcement has made our financial situation more acute, and we know it has created significant concern and uncertainty for the WHO workforce,” he added.
In response, the WHO is “freezing recruitment, except in the most critical areas” and “significantly reducing travel expenditure.” All meetings must now be fully virtual unless in exceptional circumstances, and missions to provide technical support to countries should be “limited to the most essential,” the Politico quoted Tedros as saying in the mail.
Other measures involve restrictions on replacing IT equipment, renegotiating key contracts, and pausing office refurbishments and capital investments, except when necessary for security or cost-saving purposes, added the report.
On his first day back in the White House on Monday, President Trump announced the US’ withdrawal from WHO, a move that faced backlash from public health experts.
Trump has been a long-time critic of the UN health agency, initiating the withdrawal process in July 2020 amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. However, then-President Joe Biden reversed this decision shortly after taking office, keeping the US engaged with the organisation responsible for coordinating global health responses.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn Monday’s executive order, Trump cited the WHO’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China,” its failure to implement necessary reforms, and its susceptibility to political pressures from member states as justification for the withdrawal.
“That’s a big one,” CNN quoted Trump as saying to an aide while signing the order, reiterating his belief that the US was contributing disproportionately to the organisation compared to other countries.
He also accused the WHO of colluding with China to obscure the origins of Covid-19 and facilitating its spread.
With inputs from agencies