In 1948, the United States helped found the World Health Organization (WHO) and for over 70 years the agency has been a steadfast partner with the United States. Together, the two have achieved incredible public health results that would not have been possible alone. Polio will soon join smallpox as a disease of the past and we are accelerating progress in malaria, tuberculosis, nutrition, and family planning, because of the critical support provided by WHO in facilitating U.S. global health priorities. WHO provides vital technical capacity and cooperation, which many countries rely on to keep their populations safe, by helping to identify and combat infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and outbreaks like Ebola and Zika.
The WHO has been leading the unprecedented global response to stop the spread of the COVID19 pandemic. The U.S. has long recognized the unparalleled capabilities of the WHO to help save lives, improve global disease detection, and coordinate a global public health response. As a result, the U.S. has consistently been the largest donor to the WHO. The WHO’s efforts strengthen America’s health security and economic interests, because healthy countries are stable countries.
That is why a large coalition of undersigned organizations wrote to Congress urging them to to reject the administration’s efforts to terminate the relationship between the U.S and WHO and to instead fully fund its work.
