Argentina has ratified its decision to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and confirmed its co-operation with Washington during a visit to Buenos Aires by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy.
The decision to withdraw from the WHO was initially announced in February by Argentine President Javier Milei, who followed the example of his American counterpart Donald Trump, who announced in January that the United States would withdraw from the organisation.
Milei’s government justified its withdrawal from the UN agency in a statement released on Monday.
“The WHO’s recommendations do not work because they are not based on science, but on political interests and bureaucratic structures that refuse to review their own mistakes,” the statement said.
Buenos Aires had previously accused the agency of “catastrophic” management during the Covid pandemic with its “caveman quarantine.”
The announcement came after a meeting between Kennedy and Argentine Health Minister Mario Lugones, at which they identified a “joint programme of work that will strengthen transparency and trust in the health system.”
“Together with Robert Kennedy, we believe in the future of cooperation in global health. We have similar views on the way forward,” Lugones said.
On January 21, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the country from the WHO for the second time. In 2020, Trump decided that the organisation had acted incorrectly during the coronavirus pandemic, and now he believes that the United States pays too much money to the WHO compared to other countries.
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said that the WHO would work to adapt to the current financial constraints in light of the US president’s decision.
