Watchdog Group Praises U.S. Withdrawal from World Health Organization

For Immediate Release
May 29, 2020
Contact: Grace Morgan
(202-855-4380)

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA), a nonpartisan non-profit taxpayer and consumer advocacy group, strongly praised the decision of President Trump to terminate the United States’ membership in the World Health Organization (WHO). During a news conference today, President Trump announced the redirecting of all funding to alternative public health bodies, a move the TPA has directly and repeatedly called for. 

TPA Executive Director Tim Andrews noted, “the WHO has completely failed in its mandate to protect public health, with its inept mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic being only the latest in a long string of disasters and financial mismanagement by the organization. Redirecting funds to other public health bodies will ensure that funds go to help people in need and doctors on the frontlines of the pandemic, and not to bureaucrats travelling in first class.”

Andrews continued: “Far from promoting public health, the WHO has chosen to repeatedly praise the Chinese Communist Party even as the regime covered up early Covid-19 cases. The WHO’s director-general praised China for ‘transparency’ and ‘political leadership’ at a time when government authorities were downplaying the threat and arresting doctors and journalists who were trying to raise the alarm. The evidence is clear that the WHO was responsible for the severity of this outbreak and its international spread. Had they done their one job, virus transmission would have been limited, and countries would have had critical extra weeks to prepare.”

Andrews further noted, “WHO reports have shown that the organization spends roughly $200 million per year pursuing luxury travel, including first class flights and $1,000-per-night hotel rooms. This is more than the agency spends on tuberculosis, AIDS, malaria and hepatitis combined. In fact, this spending amounts to over twenty times more in travel costs per employee than other health NGOs like Doctors Without Borders (DWB).”

“As TPA Policy Director Ross Marchand argued in April, ‘Instead of having taxpayers contribute more than $400 million per year to fund the WHO’s epic ineptitude, the U.S. could cut out the middleman and redirect these resources toward groups such as DWB. This would almost immediately free up bloated administrative costs to provide for doctors and patients in need.’ The President has demonstrated true leadership in acting on this recommendation, saving millions of lives and taxpayer dollars in the process.”

Andrews concluded, “in the midst of an international pandemic, it is vital that our tax dollars are put to the best possible use to provide help to those who need it most. Fortunately, the U.S. will be redirecting funds away from an organization that prioritizes luxury travel over public health and providing it to groups who actually help people. This decision will undoubtedly save many, many lives and protect taxpayers in the process. Everyone, regardless of their politics, should support this farsighted decision.”

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