United States Exits World Health Organization, Ends Nearly 80 Years Of Membership

Last Updated:January 23, 2026, 11:26 IST

The United States has formally withdrawn from the WHO, ending decades of membership and triggering budget cuts and layoffs at WHO, following President Donald Trump's order.

World Health Organization (WHO) logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. (Reuters)

The United States has formally withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), marking the end of nearly eight decades of participation in the U.N.-linked global health agency, U.S. officials announced on Thursday.

This comes after a year of warnings that doing so would hurt public health in the U.S. and globally, saying its decision reflected failures in the U.N. health agency’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the first day of his presidency in 2025, President Donald Trump gave notice that the U.S. would quit the organization, via an executive order.

According to a joint press release from the U.S. Health and State Departments, the United States will engage with the WHO only in a limited capacity as it moves to complete the withdrawal process.

“We have no plans to participate as an observer, and we have no plans of rejoining," a senior government health official said.

The U.S. said it intends to work directly with other countries on disease surveillance and other public health priorities, instead of operating through an international organisation.

Under U.S. law, Washington was required to give a one-year notice and clear outstanding dues of about $260 million before exiting. However, a U.S. State Department official disputed this interpretation, saying the statute does not mandate payment of pending contributions prior to withdrawal.

“The American people have paid more than enough," a State Department spokesperson said in an email earlier on Thursday.

In recent weeks, the U.S. has taken steps to withdraw from several other United Nations bodies, raising concerns among some observers that President Trump’s newly launched Board of Peace could weaken the UN system as a whole.

The U.S. exit has triggered a financial crisis at the WHO, forcing the agency to halve its management team, scale back programmes, and implement budget cuts across departments. Washington has historically been the UN health body’s largest donor, providing about 18% of its total funding. The WHO is also set to lay off nearly a quarter of its staff by mid-year.

The agency said it has been working with the U.S. and sharing information in the last year. It was unclear how the collaboration will work going forward.

“The U.S. withdrawal from WHO could weaken the systems and collaborations the world relies on to detect, prevent, and respond to health threats," said Kelly Henning, public health program lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies, a U.S.-based non-profit.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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