US, Argentina announce plans for alternative global health system, citing WHO failures

The United States and Argentina have jointly announced the creation of what they describe as an “alternative international health system,” separate from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The initiative follows the formal withdrawal of both countries from the WHO, beginning with US President Donald Trump’s executive order on the first day of his second term. In February, Argentine President Javier Milei echoed that decision, initiating Argentina’s own withdrawal from the United Nations health agency, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

In a joint statement issued on May 27, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Argentine Minister of Health Mario Lugones criticized the WHO’s performance during the COVID-19 pandemic and outlined their motivation for pursuing an alternative framework.

“The WHO’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed serious structural and operational shortcomings that undermined global trust and highlighted the urgent need for independent, science-based leadership in global health,” the statement read.

“There are well-documented concerns regarding the early management of the pandemic and the risks associated with certain types of research. Rather than ensuring timely transparency, the WHO failed to provide critical access to information, impairing countries’ ability to act swiftly and effectively, with devastating global consequences.”

Kennedy also shared on social platform X that he had met with President Milei to discuss the foundation of this new international system, which they envision as “based on gold-standard science and free from totalitarian impulses, corruption, and political control.”

The WHO, which played a central role during the COVID-19 pandemic in collecting and distributing data on the virus’s spread, has faced growing scrutiny over its effectiveness and responsiveness. A 2021 report by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response — commissioned by the WHO itself — acknowledged major global failures.

“Although public health officials, infectious disease experts, and previous international commissions and reviews had warned of potential pandemics and urged robust preparations since the first outbreak of SARS, COVID-19 still took large parts of the world by surprise. It should not have done,” the panel concluded.

“The number of infectious disease outbreaks has been accelerating, many of which have pandemic potential. It is clear to the Panel that the world was not prepared and had ignored warnings which resulted in a massive failure: an outbreak of SARS-COV-2 became a devastating pandemic.”

By Vafa Guliyeva