Argentina is pulling out of the World Health Organisation over “deep differences” on how it managed the COVID-19 pandemic, with President Javier Milei condemning the WHO-backed lockdowns as “crimes against humanity”. The Buenos Aires Herald has the story.
President Javier Milei has ordered Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein to withdraw the country from the organisation, due to “deep differences” over how the WHO managed the COVID-19 pandemic, Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni announced in a press conference on Wednesday morning.
The Milei administration’s announcement was made in lockstep with the United States’ withdrawal from the global public health agency, underscoring Argentina’s alignment with President Donald Trump.
Adorni said that the WHO’s pandemic management, along with decisions made by former President Alberto Fernández, “led [Argentina] to the longest lockdown in human history” and for the country to be subject to “certain countries’ political influence”.
“Argentines won’t allow for an international organisation to intervene in our sovereignty, much less in our health,” Adorni said.
The Government has claimed that exiting the WHO will not affect healthcare in Argentina. However, critics were quick to argue that it would affect important components of the country’s public health system, including vaccine purchases and outbreak monitoring.
The World Health Organisation is a United Nations agency that coordinates global public health. Founded in 1948, its work includes directing health emergency responses and promoting universal access to healthcare. It has 194 member countries.
Adorni said that Argentina does not receive funding from the WHO for healthcare management, and that the move would therefore not imply cuts. “It will not affect the quality of healthcare services,” he said.
“On the contrary, it provides the country with more flexibility to implement policies that are adapted to the context of interests that Argentina requires, and more availability of resources,” Adorni continued. “It reinforces our path as a country with healthcare sovereignty.” …
In addition to the WHO withdrawal, Argentina is also “analysing leaving the Paris Agreement” on climate change, Adorni added.
After the announcement, Milei described the WHO’s COVID-19 responses as “the largest social control experiment in history”. The lockdowns, he wrote on X, meant “committing, in complicity with all the countries that followed their directives, one of the most bizarre crimes against humanity in history”.
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