In a significant move, the United States has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), following a year of warnings about the potential negative impact on both domestic and global public health. The decision comes amid criticism of the WHO’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which the U.S. administration cited as a driving factor behind its departure.

President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would exit the WHO on the first day of his presidency in 2025 through an executive order. This decision marks a notable shift in international health policy for the country.

A statement released Thursday by the U.S. Departments of Health and State indicated that the United States will maintain only limited engagement with the WHO as it processes its withdrawal. The statement underscores a significant reduction in collaboration with the global health body.

“We have no plans to participate as an observer, and we have no plans of rejoining,” stated a senior government health official, emphasizing the administration’s firm stance on the issue.

The US said it plans to work directly with other countries — rather than through an international organisation — on disease surveillance and other public health priorities.

Under US law, it was supposed to give one-year notice and pay all outstanding fees — around $US260 million ($380 million) —before leaving.

But a US State Department official disputed that the statute contains a condition that any payment ‌needs to be made before withdrawal.

“The American people have paid more than enough,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email earlier on Thursday.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said ‍in a document released on Thursday that the government had ended its funding contributions to the agency. Trump had exercised his authority to pause the future transfer of any US government resources to the WHO because the organisation had cost the US trillions of dollars, the HHS spokesperson said.

The US flag had been removed from outside the WHO headquarters in Geneva on Thursday, according to witnesses.

In recent weeks, the US has moved to exit a number of other UN organisations, and some fear that Trump’s recently launched Board of Peace could undermine the UN as a whole.

The US departure has sparked a financial crisis that has seen the WHO cut its management team in half and scale back work, cutting budgets across the agency. Washington has traditionally been by far the UN health agency’s biggest financial backer, contributing around 18 per cent of its overall funding. The WHO will also shed around a quarter of its staff by the middle of this year.

The agency said it has been working with the US and sharing information in the last year. It was unclear how the collaboration will work going forward.

Global health experts said this posed risks for the US, the WHO and the world.

“The US withdrawal from WHO could weaken the systems and collaborations the world relies on to detect, prevent, and respond to health threats,” said Kelly Henning, ‍public health program lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies, a US-based non-profit.

For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.