WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – The Trump administration has announced it is rejecting a series of proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations of the World Health Assembly that would significantly expand the authority of the World Health Organization with, they say, harmful results.
Released July 18, the joint statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy states that the 2024 amendments were written “without adequate public input,” “expand the role of the WHO in public health emergencies, create additional authorities for the WHO for shaping pandemic declarations, and promote WHO’s ability to facilitate ‘equitable access’ of health commodities”; as well as “fail to adequately address the WHO’s susceptibility to the political influence and censorship – most notably from China – during outbreaks.”
“Terminology throughout the 2024 amendments is vague and broad, risking WHO-coordinated international responses that focus on political issues like solidarity, rather than rapid and effective actions,” the statement adds. “The amendments also suggest that countries develop capabilities that jeopardize management and dissemination controls over public health information, potentially stifling valuable scientific debate. Furthermore, these revisions compel countries to adopt digital health documents. Our Agencies have been and will continue to be clear: we will put Americans first in all our actions and we will not tolerate international policies that infringe on Americans’ speech, privacy, or personal liberties.”
Long known for a similar left-wing bias to that of the United Nations, the WHO has faced additional criticism since COVID-19’s outbreak in 2020 for, among other offenses, opposing bans on travel from China that could have limited the reach of COVID, for legitimizing the false claims coming out of the Chinese government that initially downplayed the gravity of the situation and covered up the communist regime’s mishandling of it, and for favoring the lockdown and mandate policies that exacerbated harm while curtailing basic freedoms and failing to improve health outcomes.
Even so, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus maintained as late as October 2024 that medical establishments must be “more aggressive” against COVID vaccine critics, despite how much the medical establishment got wrong.
President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the WHO on his first day back in office, but the State Department says the “amendments were set to become binding on the United States regardless of our withdrawal from the WHO,” necessitating formal rejection.
