US Withdrawal From WHO Will Put Pressure On Africa's Health Initiatives, Says Africa CDC

The Announcement of US withdrawal from WHO came right after Donald Trump's official appointment as the President of the United States and the inaugural ceremony.

The United States of America's withdrawal from the World Health Organisation has come as a shock to the officials of WHO and other United Nations bodies. On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said that if US were to withdraw from WHO altogether, it will put a massive strain not only on the organisations, its funding and capacity to aid other nations but also will squeeze out Africa's health initiatives.

The Announcement of US withdrawal from WHO came right after Donald Trump's official appointment as the President of the United States and the inaugural ceremony. The Africa CDC has called upon African countries to find alternative sources of financing.

The concerns raised by Africa's leading public health officials are a sign of the potential impact of the U.S. decision on the U.N. agency's ability to fight diseases and respond to emergencies round the globe without its biggest funder.

Ngashi Ngongo, a senior official at Africa CDC, said the need for Africa to seek innovative indigenous solutions for public health financing was now urgent and the matter will be raised with heads of state at a meeting scheduled in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia next month.

"We know the role that the WHO has played on the continent to really improve the delivery of public healthcare programs in Africa. And yes the reduction of US funding is definitely going to affect the response. But again it's time for African member states to rethink financing for public health," Ngongo said in response to questions during a weekly virtual news briefing.

Upon taking office on Monday, Trump signed an executive order formalizing the US withdrawal from the UN health agency, citing the WHO's "mismanagement" of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises a well as its "failure" to implement urgent reforms and a "lack" of undue political influence from member states.