Earlier this month, the Trump administration sent a letter to the United Nations formally notifying them of the United States' intention to leave the World Health Organization (WHO), after accusing the organization of overly trusting China's reporting of the extent of the coronavirus outbreak in the early months of the pandemic.
The spread of coronavirus or "COVID-19" infections, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, are still gripping much of the world and rapidly ballooning to record levels in the US, which just yesterday set a record for nearly 76,000 new cases in one day. Since the pandemic first began smoldering in China, the WHO has been a central database for the global response for the health crisis. However, The WHO has received criticism for its slowness in updating guidance about the virus as research reveals more information.
The US has long been one of the largest financial supporters of the WHO, an organization that has helped eradicate small pox and control and prevent the spread of polio, malaria, HIV, and other diseases that affect some of the world's most vulnerable. Trump's move to withdraw the US from the WHO has prompted many public health leaders to speak out against the decision, which would take effect in July 2021 if finalized.
Davidson Hamer, professor of global health and medicine at BU's School of Public Health and School of Medicine, has worked closely with the WHO, serving on various health advisory boards to improve public health guidelines for illnesses such as malaria and childhood fevers. In recent years, Hamer collaborated with the WHO on a multicountry study to improve the clinical outcomes for sick newborns, and has worked on numerous WHO-supported projects focusing on maternal and newborn health in developing nations. Hamer has also been actively part of BU's response to COVID-19, helping to surveil the spread of the virus and educate the BU community and the public about how COVID-19 transmits within communities and across geographic regions.
The Brink spoke with Hamer about Trump's plans to pull the US out of the WHO.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
