Joseph says WHO will surge forward despite loss of the US

It is no secret that the impact of the US and Argentina removing themselves from WHO membership has been significant, but the international body is pushing forward.

According to Minister of State in the Ministry of Health, Wellness, Civil Service Affairs Michael Joseph, residents in Antigua and Barbuda can rest assured that despite this loss, WHO and its members have been strategizing and putting several measures in place.

Joseph recently returned from the 78th edition of the World Health Assembly.

“I think one of the things that came out of many of those meetings is this renewed sense of multilateralism and bilateral relationships and so you have more and more countries understanding now and they’re stepping up and they’re stepping forward and they’re saying, listen, we understand what’s happening globally. We understand the global politics, the geopolitics that’s taking place. However, we can’t let that impact us because if we don’t do more than we’re doing already, it means that we’re going to have severe implications,” Joseph said.

He revealed that several first world countries have pledged to increase contributions in an effort to fill the gaps left by the US.

“So for example, as I identified, the U.S. contributes about 300 million. We had the Chinese government step up at the WHO and saying, we’re going to contribute 500 million U.S. dollars to the budget over the next three years. So this is about 150 U.S. additional that they’ve gotten.

“So of course this will help to buffer but the WHO was making this argument that we need more countries like the European Union to step forward, the Arab countries to step forward and to make greater pledges and so those are discussions that are taking place behind the scenes. However, there was that commitment from many of the countries that said we want to continue to support WHO. We understand the role of WHO and we will continue to give our full support,” he added.

This assembly was the first time that the US was not present.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced the US’ withdrawal from the WHO.

Trump has long been critical of the United Nations’ health agency, and his administration formally began a withdrawal from the WHO in July 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to spread. But four years ago, then-President Joe Biden halted the US’ exit from the body tasked with coordinating the international response to health emergencies in one of his first actions after taking over the White House.

The country’s withdrawal resulted in the loss of jobs and puts several health programs in jeopardy due to lack of funding.