The American College of Preventive Medicine joins many of our partner organizations in strongly
condemning the Trump Administration’s efforts to withhold funding for the World Health Organization
(WHO).
2,000 physicians dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of individuals, families,
communities and populations through disease prevention and health promotion.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need, now more than ever, to ensure that our public health
institutions have the support – financially, politically, and civically – they need to lead the fight against
this disease. The United States provides $553 million dollars annually to the World Health Organization, resulting in 8% of its annual operating budget. Loss of this funding will devastate the WHO’s ability to retain staff, purchase needed equipment, and organize the global fight against COVID-19 on behalf of their 194 member states.
“I urge President Trump to make the right decision to protect individual and community health by
empowering the public health and prevention experts at CDC, NIH and WHO. We need a data-driven,
deliberative process to determine the right approach to saving lives. The diverse, thoughtful, trained
public health professionals at these agencies can provide the leadership and direction the public needs
to overcome this crisis, and our elected and appointed leaders need to support them,” said Dr.
Stephanie Zaza, MD, MPH, President of the ACPM Board of Regents.
The WHO’s exceptional staff of public health experts have longstanding and strong relationships with
the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health and other
domestic public health agencies. Damaging these relationships will have a severe negative effect on the
United States’ ability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and return life in our nation to normal. The
human toll will be immeasurable, and the economic and social price hefty.
In this time of crisis, we need real leadership, not blame passing and scapegoating. President Trump’s
administration must remain firmly in support of public health expertise both domestically and
internationally. Resolving this crisis must take priority over political expediency.
Infectious diseases do not recognize national boundaries – a virus does not care where a host's passport
comes from. The fight against COVID-19 is a global one, in which every country in the world must be
involved. The United States must remain strongly committed to supporting the WHO’s efforts to
organize the global response – our own wellbeing depends on it.