A top official has expressed hope that the US government reconsiders its decision, noting the UN agency’s vital role
Senior African Union official Moussa Faki Mahamat has expressed “dismay” over the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and voiced concerns over future leadership and funding.
On Wednesday, the chairman of the African Union Commission urged the US to reconsider its exit from the UN body, of which it is a founding member.
“Today, now more than ever, the world depends on the WHO to carry out its mandate to ensure global public health security as a shared common good,” Mahamat said.
He also noted that Washington was an early supporter of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Soon after taking office on Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order taking the US out of the WHO, while accusing it “mishandling” the Covid-19 pandemic and failing to adopt “urgently needed reforms.”
The presidential order cited the “unfairly burdensome payments” the US has been making to the WHO, and accused certain countries of exerting undue political influence on the organization.
During Trump’s first term, the US initiated the process of leaving the WHO, but the decision was later reversed by President Joe Biden.
The WHO, established in 1948, is a UN agency tasked with promoting global health and responding to public health emergencies. The US withdrawal comes as Africa faces a range of health crises, including recent outbreaks of the mpox and Marburg viruses.
