In The News

Keep the US in WHO: Foreign Affairs

Harold Hongju Koh and Lawrence O. Gostin June 7, 2020
The United States represents about 25 percent of the world’s confirmed Covid-19 cases. US withdrawal from the World Health Organization, as proposed by the president based on false claims, would damage global health security and the rule of law. The US Congress can hold hearings and opponents can go to court, arguing the president lacks constitutional authority. Trump is correct that WHO should...

Trump’s "Withdrawal" From WHO: Just Security

Harold Hongju Koh June 1, 2020
Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, another treaty arrangement, in the midst of a pandemic. The Trump administration may be trying to deflect attention from a disastrous pandemic response, yet Harold Koh of Yale Law School focuses on legal issues: Trump, lacking legal authority, did not actually withdraw the US from WHO, and...

US to Cut Ties with WHO: STAT

Andrew Joseph May 29, 2020
The US president announced that the country will halt funding and withdraw from the World Health Organization. The US is the agency’s largest funder, providing about 15 percent of the budget. “The move has alarmed health experts, who say the decision will undermine efforts to improve the health of people around the world,” writes Andrew Joseph for STAT. “It’s not immediately clear whether the...

Children and Covid-19: Wired

Gregory Barber May 26, 2020
With Covid-19’s emergence in 2019, researchers quickly noticed that the disease was especially lethal for older people and suggested that while children could carry the virus their symptoms were mild. Then reports emerged in Europe and the United States of children entering hospitals with fever, rashes, low blood pressure and disruptions to the immune system – a few weeks after having contracted...

COVID-19 Reshuffling the Global Power Deck? PRI

Indra Ekmanis April 16, 2020
In confronting the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries quickly abandoned international cooperation and leadership traditions. “A global response is critical to tackling the challenges posed by the virus – from sharing data that accurately models the crisis, to collaborating on a vaccine and its equitable distribution,” suggested Nicholas Burns, former US ambassador to NATO during an interview with...

Global Call for Action

April 9, 2020
More than 200 political leaders, economists, academics and directors of NGOS have issued a call to action from G20 governments, urging immediate global coordination and emergency measures for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis. Both crises “require world leaders to commit to funding far beyond the current capacity of our existing international institutions,” explains the letter...

Trump Threatens to Withhold Funding for WHO: NYT

Michael D. Shear April 8, 2020
Critics have blasted Donald Trump’s delay in recognizing COVID-19 as a crisis and failing to implement strong public health measures early on. In a press conference, he directed a similar charge against the World Health Organization and raised the threat of withholding US funding from the global group. The US contribution represents about 10 percent of the WHO budget. “They called it wrong,” the...