NEW YORK — U.S. public well being officers have been advised to cease working with the World Well being Group, efficient instantly.
A U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention official, John Nkengasong, despatched a memo to senior leaders on the company on Sunday evening telling them that every one workers who work with the WHO should instantly cease their collaborations and “await additional steering.”
Consultants mentioned the sudden stoppage was a shock and would set again work on investigating and attempting to cease outbreaks of Marburg virus and mpox in Africa, in addition to brewing international threats. It additionally comes as well being authorities around the globe are monitoring hen flu outbreaks amongst U.S. livestock.
The Related Press seen a replica of Nkengasong’s memo, which mentioned the stop-work coverage utilized to “all CDC workers participating with WHO via technical working teams, coordinating facilities, advisory boards, cooperative agreements or different means—in particular person or digital.” It additionally says CDC workers are usually not allowed to go to WHO places of work.
President Donald Trump final week issued an government order to start the method of withdrawing the U.S. from WHO, however that didn’t take instant impact. Leaving WHO requires the approval of Congress and that the U.S. meets its monetary obligations for the present fiscal 12 months. The U.S. additionally should present a one-year discover.
Learn Extra: What Leaving the WHO Means for the U.S. and the World
His administration additionally advised federal well being companies to cease most communications with the general public via at the least the tip of the month.
“Stopping communications and conferences with WHO is an enormous downside,” mentioned Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a College of Southern California public well being skilled who collaborates with WHO on work in opposition to sexually transmitted infections.
“Individuals thought there could be a sluggish withdrawal. This has actually caught everybody with their pants down,” mentioned Klausner, who mentioned he realized of it from somebody at CDC.
“Speaking to WHO is a two-way avenue,” he added, noting that the 2 companies profit from one another’s experience. The collaboration permits the U.S. to study new assessments, new remedies and rising outbreaks—info “which may also help us shield Individuals overseas and at residence,” Klausner mentioned.
The CDC particulars almost 30 individuals to WHO and sends many tens of millions of {dollars} to it via cooperative agreements. The U.S. company additionally has among the world’s main specialists in infectious illnesses and public well being threats, and the 2 companies’ staffers are in day by day contact about well being risks and the best way to cease them.
The collaboration halt isn’t the one international well being impact of Trump’s government orders. Final week, the president froze spending on one other important program, PEPFAR or the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Reduction.
The anti-HIV program is credited with saving 25 million lives, together with these of 5.5 million kids, because it was began by Republican President George W. Bush. It was included in a Trump administration freeze on international support spending slated to final at the least three months.
PEPFAR gives HIV medicine to greater than 20 million individuals “and stopping its funding important stops their HIV therapy,” Worldwide AIDS Society President Beatriz Grinsztejn mentioned in an announcement. “If that occurs, individuals are going to die and HIV will resurge.”
A U.S. well being official confirmed that the CDC was stopping its work with WHO. The particular person was not approved to speak concerning the memo and spoke on situation of anonymity.
A WHO spokesperson referred questions concerning the withdrawal to U.S. officers.
Officers on the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers didn’t instantly reply to an emailed request for remark. And CDC officers didn’t reply to the AP’s request to talk with Nkengasong concerning the memo.
—AP Medical Author Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report.
