US walks away from WHO leaving behind $260 million in unpaid dues

By Jessica Nix

 

One year after President Donald Trump ordered the US to withdraw from the World Health Organisation, the process was formally completed Thursday, though the nation is leaving behind unpaid debt of roughly $260 million. 

All funding to the health agency has been terminated and people working with the WHO have been recalled from all offices and its headquarters, the Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday. The US has also ended all participation in WHO-sponsored leadership bodies and working groups. 

 

Trump signed the order to withdraw from the WHO on the first day of his second term, accusing it of mishandling the Covid pandemic, failing to adopt reforms and a lack of independence from “inappropriate political influence.” 

 

 

To leave from the organisation, the US must provide a one year notice and pay off any debts owed, according to a 1948 Congressional resolution, which the WHO confirmed. A senior HHS official said on a call with reporters there’s no requirement in statute to settle the debt before exiting the agency. 

 

The debt totals about $260 million as calculated by the WHO in January 2025. 

 

“It’s a very messy divorce,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO collaborating centre on national and global health law at Georgetown University. 

 

The withdrawal notice left the health organisation without its top donor. Between 2022 and 2023, the US contributed nearly $1.3 billion to the WHO. Without the money, the agency’s work to contain diseases like HIV, polio and Ebola are at risk. 

 

“Withdrawing from the World Health Organisation is scientifically reckless,” said Ronald Nahass, president of the Infections Disease Society of America. Without the organisation’s influenza response and data tracking, the US will be less prepared to match future vaccines to circulating strains, he said. 

 

The WHO’s biannual flu vaccine meeting is set to take place in February. A senior HHS official said there are ongoing conversations to determine the US involvement in the discussions. 

 

After Trump signed the executive order, the European Union urged the US to reconsider and called on members to reinforce their commitments. The WHO has 193 other member states. Argentina has also announced its intent to leave the organisation.

 

The WHO is set to discuss legal options for the US debt at its upcoming assembly meeting in May. But there’s no enforcement power at the WHO’s disposal, Gostin said. The organisation could claim the US is still a member — albeit an inactive one — with its outstanding bill. 

 

The Trump administration has also been pulling back from other global health areas. Last year, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency gutted the US Agency for International Development, which focused on humanitarian relief and health programs. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cut US support from the Global Vaccine Alliance that provides immunisations to low-income countries. 

 

The State Department has started work on global health initiatives with roughly 60 countries to expand oversight for disease surveillance and manage collaboration, which could serve as a workaround for the WHO’s Pandemic Agreement. 

 

A senior HHS official said more announcements on US global health strategy will be released in the coming months. There are no current or future plans to rejoin the WHO, the official said.