Urging Leave vs Big Additional Support...WHO World Health Conference and Out-of-Off-the-Counter Fighting
May 21, 2025
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The WHA is the WHO's top voting body and is held in Geneva, Switzerland, every May. Representatives from 194 member states gather to discuss major issues, determine the WHO's policies, and make important decisions such as appointing the secretary-general and approving the budget.
According to AFP on the 20th (local time), U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. sent a video message to the WHA on the 20th (local time), urging him to `"We hope that our withdrawal from the WHO will be a warning sign.' We are already in contact with agreed countries and to consider other countries joining us.' Secretary Kennedy argued that the WHO was excessively influenced by China, gender ideology, and the pharmaceutical industry, and again raised suspicions that the WHO had surrendered to political pressure from China and concealed the COVID-19 'laboratory leak theory'.
U.S. President Trump, who has insisted on China's responsibility along with laboratory leaks since the beginning of the pandemic, signed an executive order ordering the WHO to leave in January and began the process of stopping the payment of contributions in 2024 and 2025.
The WHO has cut its budget by 21% from 2026 to 2027 due to severe financial difficulties, and is pursuing a plan to increase the contribution of member states by 20% over two years.
On the other hand, Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu Guo-jung announced in a speech to the WHA that `China will provide an additional $500 million (about 697.3 billion won) to the WHO over the next five years.' Deputy Prime Minister Liu refuted Kennedy's claim regarding the origin of COVID-19, saying, `Any attempt to slander China will never succeed.'
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
