The Donald Trump government announced Friday that the United States rejected the amendments adopted in 2024 by the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat pandemics, saying that they violated American sovereignty.
In 2024, WHO member countries adopted amendments to International Health Regulations (RSI), a legally binding framework to respond to public health emergencies that had shown their limits during covir.
“We will not tolerate any international policy”
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, decided his return to power in January to withdraw the United States from this UN Agency. But, according to the State Department, these amendments are still restrictive to the country.
Health Minister Robert Kennedy JR, known for his vaccineptic positions, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio states in a statement that “these amendments can excessively hinder our sovereign law to develop our health policy.”
“We will place the Americans first in all our actions, and we will not tolerate any international policy that undergoes freedom of expression, privacy or individual freedoms of Americans,” added the press release.
The amendments introduce the notion of “emergency pandemic” and “more solidarity and equity”, according to WHO. They had been adopted after the organization failed last year to conclude a more ambitious global agreement in the fight against pandemics. In 2025, this agreement had finally been completed, but without the United States.
“We regret the decision of the United States”
“We regret the United States’s decision to reject amendments,” said the WHO head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement published in X. He stressed that the amendments “are clear about the sovereignty of the Member States,” and added that who could not decide on similar confinements or measures.
Washington, under the presidency of Joe Biden, had participated in the negotiations in 2024 but had failed to find a consensus. In fact, the United States demanded more protections on intellectual property rights in US vaccines.
The predecessor of Marco Rubio, Antony Blinken, then praised the amendments, describing them as progress. “They do not properly treat WHO vulnerability to political influence and censorship, especially by China, during epidemics,” the two ministers added on Friday to justify their rejection.
Source: BFM TV
