Donald Trump starts withdrawal of U.S. from WHO

President Donald Trump formally started the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Point

• Recently the Member States at the World Health Assembly agreed three resolutions on universal health coverage (UHC).
• They focus on:
  • Primary healthcare
  • The role of community health workers
  • N.U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting on UHC.

About World Health Organization

• It is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health.
• Its main objective is “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health.”
• It has 194-member countries, and its secretariat is in Geneva, Switzerland.
• World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of WHO, attended by delegations from all member states.

About World Health Assembly

• It is the forum through which WHO is governed by its 194 member states.
• It is the worlds world’s highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states.
• The members of the World Health Assembly generally meet every year in May in Geneva, the location of WHO Headquarters.
• The main functions of the World Health Assembly are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed program budget.

UPSC