Washington: The US will not participate in the World Health Organization-led global effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine with the Trump administration on Thursday announcing next steps for its withdrawal from the multilateral body and the redirection of American resources.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US is scaling down its engagement with the WHO as the latter had failed to adopt urgently needed reforms.
"Today, the @realDonaldTrump Administration continues to move forward with the United States' withdrawal from the @WHO," Secretary Pompeo tweeted on Thursday.
"The WHO failed to adopt urgently needed reforms, starting with demonstrating its independence from the Chinese Communist Party," he said.
Humanitarian assistance is provided to people around the world with the support of the American taxpayer with the reasonable expectation that it serve an effective purpose, the US State Department said "Unfortunately, the World Health Organization has failed badly by those measures, not only in its response to COVID-19 but to other health crises in recent decades.
In addition, WHO has declined to adopt urgently needed reforms, starting with demonstrating its independence from the Chinese Communist Party," US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
This comes a day after the State Department informed the World Health Organisation (WHO) that it is reprogramming USD 62 million to finalize its withdrawal from the body.