UN says US to leave WHO on January 22, 2026

File picture

The US will leave the World Health Organization on January 22, 2026, the UN said, after being formally notified of the decision by President Donald Trump, who has accused the agency of mishandling the pandemic and other international health crises.

Trump announced the move on Monday, hours after he was sworn in for a second four-year term. The WHO said on Tuesday that it regretted the move from its top donor country.

Trump must give a one-year notice of US withdrawal from the Geneva-based body and pay Washington's dues under a 1948 joint resolution of the US Congress.

The United States is by far the WHO's biggest financial backer, contributing around 18 per cent of its overall funding. WHO's most recent two-year budget, for 2024-2025, was $6.8 billion (AED 25 billion). It was not immediately clear how much the US owes.

"I can confirm we have now received the US letter on the WHO withdrawal. It is dated January 22, 2025. It would take effect a year from yesterday, on January 22, 2026," said deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq.

The US departure will likely put at risk programs across the organization, according to several experts inside and outside the WHO, notably those tackling tuberculosis, the world’s biggest infectious disease killer, as well as HIV/AIDS and other health emergencies.

The withdrawal order signed by Trump said the administration would cease negotiations on the WHO pandemic treaty while the withdrawal is in progress. US government personnel working with the WHO will be recalled and reassigned, and the government will look for partners to take over necessary WHO activities, according to the order.

Trump's withdrawal from the WHO was not unexpected. He took steps to quit the body in 2020 during his first term as president. Before the U.S. withdrawal could be completed last time, Joe Biden won the presidential election and put a stop to it on his first day in office on January 20, 2021.

More from International

  • Bomb kills at least one person in luxury Moscow apartment

    A bomb tore through the lobby of a luxury apartment block in Moscow on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring four others in an attack targeting a pro-Russian paramilitary leader from eastern Ukraine, the state TASS news agency reported.

  • Car bomb kills 15 in northern Syria

    A car bomb killed at least 15 people in the Syrian city of Manbij on Monday, the second attack there in three days and Syria's deadliest since Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power in December.

  • Trump says Americans may feel pain in trade war

    President Donald Trump said the sweeping tariffs that he has imposed on Mexico, Canada and China may cause "short term" pain for Americans as global markets reflected concerns the levies could undermine growth and reignite inflation.

  • Israeli forces destroy 20 buildings in West Bank refugee camp

    The Israeli military blew up buildings in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Sunday in an operation that the Palestinian state news agency said leveled around 20 buildings.

  • Rubio tells Panama to end China's influence of canal or face US action

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday warned Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino that Washington will "take measures necessary" if Panama does not immediately take steps to end what President Donald Trump sees as China's influence and control over the Panama Canal.