Argentina’s decision to leave the World Health Organization further threatens an international body tasked with coordinating public health responses.
The United States made a similar move last month with the announcement on Wednesday.
Far-right administrations currently govern both countries, and President Javier Milei of Argentina has a close relationship with his US counterpart, Donald Trump.
The World Health Organization has been criticized by the two leaders for handling the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United Nations does not require governments to follow its instructions, but it does provide research and suggestions for how nations can work together to address public health crises like pandemics.
Still, on Wednesday, Milei blamed the World Health Organization for its advice about physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Milei on social media, “We have chosen to leave such a nefarious organization that was the executing arm of what was the greatest experiment in social control in history.”
He punctuated his message with a campaign slogan: “LONG LIVE FREEDOM, DAMN IT”.
Milei was elected in 2023 amid spiralling inflation in Argentina. A dark horse in the race, he ran on a platform of slashing government expenses with his signature “chainsaw” approach.
He has described himself as an “anarcho-capitalist”. But while month-to-month inflation has stabilised under his leadership, Argentina’s poverty rate has climbed to upwards of 50 percent.
His administration has been criticized for cutting important public services, including funding for soup kitchens that serve the poor, over the past year.
Argentina contributes approximately $8.257m to the World Health Organization, as of 2024.
In an official government news release, however, Milei’s administration accused the organisation of heightening Argentina’s economic crisis.
According to the official statement, “Quarantines caused one of the greatest economic catastrophes in history.”
Self-distancing theories allegedly contravened the 1998 Rome Statute, which gives the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over serious international crimes like genocide and crimes against humanity.
The WHO’s guidance about self-isolating, Milei’s government argued, was itself a crime against humanity.
“In our country, the WHO supported a government that left children out of school, hundreds of thousands of workers without income, led businesses and SMEs]small- and medium-sized enterprises] to bankruptcy, and still cost us 130, 000 lives”, its statement said.
Milei’s government also questioned the integrity of the World Health Organization’s research.
The WHO’s recipes do not function because they are the result of political influence, according to the statement.
Trump’s similar order on January 20 was reflected in the heated rhetoric.
Hours after he was inaugurated into a second term as US president, Trump signed an executive order rescinding US funding from the World Health Organization, alleging a “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Trump also criticized the organization for failing to “demystrate independence from the member states’ inappropriate political influence.”
Source: Aljazeera
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