The transition team of Donald Trump insists on announcing the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the inauguration day of the newly elected president, January 20. According to Financial Times, this step could deprive the WHO of its largest funding source, accounting for about 16% of its budget in 2022-2023, significantly affecting the organization's ability to respond to global health crises, including pandemics.
The decision to withdraw is linked to Trump's previous initiative in 2020, when he accused the WHO of being under China's influence due to its actions during the spread of Covid-19.
WHO and Covid-19
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus has longstanding and strong ties with China. During his tenure as Ethiopia's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2016, Ghebreyesus actively promoted Chinese loans, leading Ethiopia into heavy debt to Beijing, owing an unsustainable $12 billion.
Investigations by The Times, Foreign Policy, and The Washington Post reveal that China played a key role in securing Ghebreyesus's election as the head of the WHO. Chinese diplomats orchestrated support for his candidacy among third-world countries, particularly in Africa. Today, the WHO Director-General openly refers to China as a "friend."
This "friendship" is unsurprising given China's substantial financial contributions to the WHO. For instance, in March 2020, Ghebreyesus publicly thanked the Chinese government for providing $20 million to combat the coronavirus pandemic and later expressed gratitude for an additional $30 million.
Such close ties have already resulted in a global tragedy. During the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China, Ghebreyesus ignored warnings from Taiwanese scientists about human-to-human transmission of the virus.
To appease China, the WHO leader delayed declaring a pandemic for months and opposed imposing air travel restrictions on China. Ethiopian Airlines, meanwhile, continued transporting passengers from China worldwide, even as other airlines cut ties with the country. The consequences of these actions are well-known: the rapid global spread of the virus, millions of deaths, and the destabilization of the global economy.
Reasons Behind the WHO’s Friendship with Russia
The WHO was slow to acknowledge Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. In April 2022, the organization's head, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, even criticized Western countries for what he considered an excessive focus on the Russia-Ukraine war, claiming that "other crises were not receiving enough attention."
This is not surprising given the influence Russians have had within the WHO. For example, Russia’s Minister of Health, Mikhail Murashko, served on the WHO Executive Board until 2023, alongside his Belarusian counterpart Dmitry Pinevich.
During this time, Russia was committing numerous war crimes in Bucha, Mariupol, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and other Ukrainian cities, including the widespread destruction of medical infrastructure. Yet, the WHO did not exclude representatives from aggressor states from its executive bodies. It wasn’t until late May 2023—well into the second year of the full-scale war—that the WHO finally issued a "strong" condemnation of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
It’s surprising the WHO made such a statement at all. Ghebreyesus had previously met with Vladimir Putin during a WHO assembly in Moscow and was known for his praise of the Russian leader. There was a reason for this: during 2020-2021 alone, Russia contributed $55 million to the WHO budget. The European WHO Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases was located in Moscow until May 2023, when it was relocated to Copenhagen. Why did Ghebreyesus delay the move? Russia paid the WHO $5.6 million annually for "hosting" the office.
China's Interests in the Global Tobacco Market
Does China support the WHO's strict regulations on tobacco? Absolutely. Does China comply with these regulations itself? Not at all. Does this concern the WHO? Not in the slightest. Why does the WHO block sensible decisions regarding less harmful smokeless tobacco products? Because it benefits China.
Beijing aims to direct the WHO’s focus on solving the cigarette-smoking problem in other regions of the world, primarily Europe, while shifting attention from cigarettes to alternative nicotine products. This is because China sees these alternatives as a significant threat to its tobacco industry. The China National Tobacco Corporation makes no investments in smokeless tobacco products, and the Chinese market remains closed to international producers of alternative products.
Professor Robert Beaglehole from the University of Auckland, a former head of the WHO Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, argues: "If the WHO does not innovate its tobacco policy, it will fail to achieve its goals of reducing cancer, cardiovascular, and lung disease. Encouraging smokers to switch to alternative tobacco products could greatly improve outcomes. However, this requires WHO’s support, not its ongoing obstruction."
China eagerly adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2006 but has yet to follow through on its key recommendations. For example, graphic health warnings are absent from cigarette packs in China, with text warnings occupying less than half of the pack. Taxes on cigarettes average 54% of the retail price, while the WHO’s recommended global minimum is 70%. The convention mandates reducing tobacco cultivation areas, yet China offsets this by purchasing tobacco fields in other countries, primarily Brazil.
China's significant influence on the global tobacco market. China wields immense influence in the global tobacco market. In the country, cigarettes are produced by the China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC), which also sets regulatory policies for tobacco products domestically.
CNTC is the world’s largest tobacco company, generating up to 12% of China’s annual budget revenue (approximately $170 billion). This makes it a critical source of income for the state.
China accounts for roughly 40% of global cigarette consumption. According to WHO data, one in three smokers worldwide is Chinese—approximately 307.6 million people. Smoking kills 8 million people globally each year, half of whom are in China, where a pack of cigarettes costs about 60 UAH at the current exchange rate.
Interestingly, despite extensive scientific research, the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to assert that tobacco products for electronic heating (e.g., HTPs) are no less harmful than traditional cigarettes.
Nevertheless, WHO reports still present China as a model (!) of compliance with the global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, awarding it a 7.5 out of 10 for adherence to WHO regulatory tools for tobacco products.
Today, health policy decisions on a global scale rest in the hands of pro-China and pro-Russia WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. It is to him that Ukraine’s Ministry of Health must currently defer, following WHO directives that often bear little connection to reality, health, or science.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.