America last RFK Jr. calls WHO “moribund” amid US withdrawal; China pledges to give $500M As the rest of the world signed a pandemic agreement, the US sent an abrasive video. Beth Mole – May 21, 2025 7:07 pm | 27 World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, May 19, 2025. Credit: Getty | Xinhua News Agency World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, May 19, 2025. Credit: Getty | Xinhua News Agency Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more China is poised to be the next big donor to the World Health Organization after Trump abruptly withdrew the US from the United Nations health agency on his first day in office, leaving a critical funding gap and leadership void. On Tuesday, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong said that China would give an additional $500 million to WHO over the course of five years. Liu made the announcement at the World Health Assembly (WHA) being held in Geneva. The WHA is the decision-making body of WHO, comprised of delegations from member states, which meet annually to guide the agency's health agenda. “The world is now facing the impacts of unilateralism and power politics, bringing major challenges to global health security," Liu told the WHA, according to The Washington Post. "China strongly believes that only with solidarity and mutual assistance can we create a healthy world together." This year, China sent its largest-ever delegation—180—to the WHA, while the US was absent, according to Health Policy Watch. The increased involvement and large donation are seen as clear examples that China is working to take the place of the US. Although the US has cut all ties with the WHO—and reportedly still owes the agency $260 million in 2024–2025 dues—US health secretary and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made an unexpected appearance at the WHA via a six-minute video. Isolated In the abrasive, pre-recorded speech, Kennedy described the WHO as "moribund" and "mired in bureaucratic bloat [and] entrenched paradigms." "WHO's priorities have increasingly reflected the biases and interests of corporate medicine," Kennedy said, alluding to his anti-vaccine and germ-theory denialist views. He chastised the health organization for allegedly capitulating to China and working with the country to "promote the fiction that COVID originated in bats." Kennedy ended the short speech by touting his Make America Healthy Again agenda. He also urged the WHO to undergo a radical overhaul similar to what the Trump administration is currently doing to the US government—presumably including dismantling and withholding funding from critical health agencies and programs. Last, he pitched other countries to join the US in abandoning the WHO. "I would like to take this opportunity to invite my fellow health ministers around the world into a new era of cooperation.... we're ready to work with you," Kennedy said. Meanwhile, the WHA embraced collaboration. During the assembly this week, WHO overwhelmingly voted to adopt the world's first pandemic treaty, aimed at collectively preventing, preparing for, and responding to any future pandemics. The treaty took over three years to negotiate, but in the end, no country voted against it—124 votes in favor, 11 abstentions, and no objections. (The US, no longer being a member of WHO, did not have a vote.) "The world is safer today thanks to the leadership, collaboration and commitment of our Member States to adopt the historic WHO Pandemic Agreement,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “The Agreement is a victory for public health, science and multilateral action. It will ensure we, collectively, can better protect the world from future pandemic threats. It is also a recognition by the international community that our citizens, societies and economies must not be left vulnerable to again suffer losses like those endured during COVID-19.” Beth Mole Senior Health Reporter Beth Mole Senior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technica’s Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 27 Comments

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