Foreign news

The Lancet: Cutting ties with WHO will make Americans far less safe

Published

5 years ago

July 12, 2020

Withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) would have “dire consequences” for the security, diplomacy and influence of the United States, said a commentary published Wednesday on The Lancet’s website, the world’s leading medical journal.

“The U.S.A. cannot cut ties with the WHO without incurring major disruption and damage, making Americans far less safe,” said the commentary, which was co-authored by 15 scholars from renowned American universities, the American Public Health Association and the National Academy of Sciences in Argentina.

Trump administration ‘violates U.S. law’

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the country would sever its relationship with the WHO on May 29, one month after he halted U.S. funding to the United Nations health agency over its alleged poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trump administration notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the WHO earlier this week.

The “unilateral action notifying the UN” violates U.S. law, the commentary said, noting that the Trump administration “does not have express approval of Congress” to quit the organization.

The United States joined the WHO “through a 1948 joint resolution passed by both houses of Congress” and the decision to leave the body and terminate its funding violates a binding condition in that resolution, the article explained.

“The law mandates the U.S.A. must pay its financial obligations for the current fiscal year. Because withdrawal could not occur until next July, the U.S.A. must pay its mandatory WHO contributions through the end of 2021,” it said.

If Trump loses the presidential election in November, a new administration “could simply revoke the withdrawal upon taking office,” it added.

Leaving WHO means ‘limited access to vaccine’

“The WHO has unmatched global reach and legitimacy,” the commentary said. “The U.S. administration would be hard pressed to disentangle the country from WHO governance and programs.”

It noted that “there are 21 WHO collaborating centers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and three at the National Institutes of Health, focused on U.S. priorities.”

A laboratory technician prepares COVID-19 patient samples for semi-automatic testing at Northwell Health Labs, in Lake Success, New York, U.S., March 11, 2020. /AP
When seasonal influenza strikes in autumn, the U.S. “could be cut out of the global system to design annual influenza vaccines” after leaving the WHO, whose Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System collects data worldwide and studies circulating viruses, the scholars said in the article.

“Severing ties with the WHO could impede U.S. access to crucial tools for developing biological countermeasures to influenza,” they stressed.

Currently, the UN body is conducting the “Solidarity Trial” for COVID-19 treatments joined by over 100 countries. “If the U.S.A. does not participate in these WHO initiatives, Americans could have limited access to scarce vaccine supplies, and are likely to be barred from travel to foreign destinations,” the commentary said.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is over three million, and the death toll has surpassed 132,000. Both numbers are the largest in the world.

A COVID-19 vaccine is vital for both safeguarding public health and safely reopening the society, the scholars pointed out.

In addition, the U.S. would not be able to promote crucial reforms of the WHO after leaving it, they argued.

“Health and security in the U.S.A. and globally require robust collaboration with the WHO – a cornerstone of U.S. funding and policy since 1948,” they said.

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Foreign news

French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship

Published

1 month ago

February 5, 2025

The Gleamer

The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.

He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.

He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.

In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.

According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.

“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.

“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.

“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.

The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.

He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.

“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.

“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.

Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.

Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.

“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.

“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.

The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.

He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.

“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.

“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.

He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.

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