Argentina’s President Javier Milei declared that he would follow the United States in withdrawing from the World Health Organization due to “profound differences in health management, especially due to the pandemic, which led us to the longest confinement in the history of humanity.”

“We have decided to leave such a harmful organisation, which was the executing arm of what was the largest social-control experiment in history,” wrote Milei on social media.

Milei attributed his decision to the WHO’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic, which he described as a “one of the most outlandish crimes against humanity in history”.

The announcement comes two days after the meeting of the WHO Executive Board, where organization’s Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “We would welcome suggestions from the United States and all Member States for how we can serve you and the people of the world better. So, although we are doing a lot of reform, additional is welcome.”

The United States is the biggest financial backer of the WHO, contributing around 15% of its overall funding last year

The WHO's most recent two-year budget, for 2024-2025, was $6.8 billion. Member States contribute directly nearly 60% of the programme budget, and another 14% comes from other organizations in the United Nations system, partnerships and development banks which are themselves largely funded by governments. Last year Argentina’s contribution to WHO was comparatively small – amounting to only $8 million as for the 2024-25 biennium, as compared to some nearly $1 billion paid by the US

Two weeks ago, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order announcing his intention to withdraw the United States from WHO.

“We regret the decision, and we hope the US will reconsider. We would welcome constructive dialogue to preserve and strengthen the historic relationship between WHO and the USA,” – said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

He unveiled that even before the US announcement, “WHO was facing a shortfall due to the economic difficulties that many countries are facing” and for many months, the organization had been working with twin strategic goals: “to mobilize new resources; and to tighten our belts.”

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