Tuesday, January 28, 2025 - U.S. public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, John
Nkengasong, sent a memo to senior leaders at the agency on Sunday night telling
them that all agency staff who work with the WHO must immediately stop their
collaborations and “await further guidance.”
The Associated Press viewed a copy of Nkengasong’s memo,
which said the stop-work policy applied to “all CDC staff engaging with WHO
through technical working groups, coordinating centers, advisory boards,
cooperative agreements or other means in person or virtual.” It also says
CDC staff are not allowed to visit WHO offices.
President Trump last week issued an executive order to
begin the process of withdrawing the U.S. from WHO, but that did not take
immediate effect.
Leaving WHO requires the approval of Congress and that the
U.S. meets its financial obligations for the current fiscal year. The U.S. also
must provide a one-year notice.
His administration also told federal health agencies to
stop most communications with the public through at least the end of the month.
“Stopping communications and meetings with WHO is a big
problem,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a University of Southern California public
health expert who collaborates with WHO on work against sexually transmitted
infections.
“People thought there would be a slow withdrawal. This has
really caught everyone with their pants down,” said Klausner, who said he
learned of it from someone at CDC.
“Talking to WHO is a two-way street,” he added, noting that
WHO and U.S. health officials benefit from each other’s expertise. The
collaboration allows the U.S. to learn about new tests and treatments as well
as about emerging outbreaks — information “which can help us protect Americans
abroad and at home.”
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