The decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and to oppose a pandemic agreement and a reform of international health regulations is irresponsible. It weakens the WHO and increases health risks for millions of people, including in the US. This is especially true in the area of communicable diseases. Isolation is not the solution to combating cross-border health threats. To the contrary, the global community needs to work closely together to prevent such risks. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that no country with open borders for both, people and trade can do this successfully on its own. In the case of the annual seasonal flu, for example, the secure exchange of data on the latest influenza strains organised by the WHO is essential to produce effective vaccines.

It is now important to seek dialogue with the new US administration to convince them that, contrary to what the President's executive order claims, the WHO has implemented reforms and remains willing to reform. The accusation that China pays too little for its size is not entirely wrong. This should be discussed; China must no longer portray itself as a poor developing country in all UN organisations. However, it is also clear that higher contributions from China would mean growing influence, which the new administration is unlikely to want. It is to be hoped that the US will reconsider its decision to withdraw. Since the founding of the WHO in 1948 the US, in close cooperation with the WHO, has successfully contributed to improving the health of millions of people worldwide through its financial contributions, cutting-edge medicine and research. This must be preserved. At the same time, it is good that it can be expected that American civil society, science, companies and charitable foundations, as well as organisations such as the National Academy of Medicine, the Center for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, will continue to make an important, indeed indispensable, contribution to global health. Many people, especially in the poorest countries, depend on this. But it is also in the interests of a globally committed and networked nation like the United States of America.  

Here you can find the guest article by Hermann Gröhe in the Ärzteblatt