Motsoaledi: South Africa accepts US withdrawal from WHO with resilience

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has said the department has long accepted the reality of the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and will continue to work with other countries that retain their membership in the global body.

This follows the US announcement on Friday, in a joint statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, confirming its withdrawal from the WHO, as promised by incumbent President Donald Trump when he took office last year.

In a response to Business Report, Motsoaledi said the warning had come soon after Trump took office in 2025, when the US president announced that his country would withdraw from the World Health Organisation. The US subsequently boycotted multilateral health forums as America implemented Trump’s decision.

“The fact that yesterday the US officially withdrew is purely academic. As the Department of Health in South Africa, we have long accepted the reality that the US is no longer part of WHO and will continue to work with other countries that still value membership of the World Health Organization,” Motsoaledi said.

In a statement on Saturday, the WHO said it regrets the United States’ notification of withdrawal, describing it as a decision that makes both the United States and the world less safe.

The organisation said the notification of withdrawal raises issues that will be considered by the WHO Executive Board at its regular meeting starting on 2 February, and by the World Health Assembly at its annual meeting in May 2026.

“WHO takes note of statements from the government of the United States that say WHO has ‘trashed and tarnished’ and insulted it, and compromised its independence. The reverse is true. As we do with every Member State, WHO has always sought to engage with the United States in good faith, with full respect for its sovereignty,” the organisation said.

The United States also claimed that WHO has “pursued a politicised, bureaucratic agenda driven by nations hostile to American interests”. WHO rejected this assertion, saying it is untrue. As a specialised agency of the United Nations governed by 194 Member States, WHO said it has always been, and remains, impartial and exists to serve all countries with respect for their sovereignty, without fear or favour.

WHO expressed appreciation for the support and continued engagement of its Member States, which continue to work within the WHO framework to pursue solutions to the world’s biggest health threats, both communicable and non-communicable.

Most notably, WHO Member States last year adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement, which, once ratified, will become a landmark instrument of international law aimed at keeping the world safer from future pandemics. Member States are now negotiating an annex to the agreement — the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system — which, if adopted, will promote rapid detection and sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential, as well as equitable and timely access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

“We hope that in the future, the United States will return to active participation in WHO. Meanwhile, WHO remains steadfastly committed to working with all countries in pursuit of its core mission and constitutional mandate: the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental right for all people,” the statement said.

The US said on Friday that its withdrawal responds to what it described as the WHO’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to rectify the harm from those failures inflicted on the American people. “Promises made, promises kept,” it said.

Like many international organisations, the WHO, according to the US, abandoned its core mission and acted repeatedly against American interests. Although the United States was a founding member and the WHO’s largest financial contributor, Washington said the organisation pursued a politicised, bureaucratic agenda driven by nations hostile to American interests.

“In doing so, the WHO obstructed the timely and accurate sharing of critical information that could have saved American lives and then concealed those failures under the pretext of acting ‘in the interest of public health,’” the statement said.

The move violates US law, which requires Washington to settle more than $260 million in outstanding fees before cutting ties.

BUSINESS REPORT