‘It is in the US' best interests to stay in the WHO’: UN health agency chief

LONDON

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed hope Thursday that the US will rejoin the UN health agency.

“It is in the best interests of the US to stay in the WHO," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva.

He said he hopes there would be some formal engagement for a "very honest and candid dialogue" for the US to return to the World Health Organization.

“I said it many times that the US withdrawal from the WHO it's a lose-lose. It's in the best interests of the US to stay in WHO. It's a health security that keeps the US safe and the rest of the world safe by being in the WHO.”

He indicated that there are many other benefits for the US to stay in the agency, stressing that all the investment Washington has made in the agency is in its own interest.

“I hope they will reconsider and join the WHO family," he noted.

In a controversial move, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the WHO after he took office in January.

More than 10,000 patients in Gaza ‘still await evacuation'

On the situation in the Gaza Strip, Tedros demanded the "urgent lifting" of Israel’s aid blockade and the protection of health care and humanitarian access, warning that the siege increases the risk of disease and death.

He said 75% of UN missions in Gaza last week were denied or impeded.

"Yesterday, WHO and our partners evacuated 18 patients and 29 companions to Norway, Malta, Luxembourg, and Romania," he said, adding that more than 10,000 patients in Gaza still await evacuation.

Touching on how the already dire situation in Gaza has become crippling, Tedros stressed that the UN agency took advantage of a ceasefire to resupply the health system and warehouses, but after six weeks of a blockade, supplies are "dangerously low" and will run out in two to four weeks unless the siege is lifted.

The Israeli army renewed a deadly assault on Gaza on March 18, shattering the nearly two-month ceasefire that took effect in January.

Israel has killed more than 50,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.