SMART TACTIC?
Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, told AFP prior to the US announcement that it would be tactically smarter for Washington to hold off.
If they want “leverage over WHO … it would make sense to at least see what they can get, and then use the withdrawal as a negotiating tool”, she said.
Moon voiced certainty that WHO would survive a US withdrawal.
“Most organisations would survive a 15 per cent budget cut, but it would be painful,” she said.
PANDEMIC AGREEMENT
Rattled by COVID-19, WHO member states decided in December 2021 to start drafting an accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
But deadlines have been repeatedly missed, meaning negotiations were not completed before Trump’s return.
Monday’s executive order says Washington will stop negotiating during its withdrawal, and the agreement will have “no binding force” on the United States.
Moon warned that the US pullout from the talks could give other wary countries “an easy out”.
