By Our Reporter
Argentina has officially made known its resolve to opt out of the World Health Organization,WHO, just as the United States severed ties with the global health body.
Accounting to a report by Aljazeera, on Tuesday, Argentina’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Pablo Quirno confirmed the country’s withdrawal from the international health body, which core mandates include monitoring health trends, tracking disease, promoting healthcare access, and training medical providers across the world.
The decision was first announced in February last year, and a month later, the minister explained that the government of right-wing President Javier Milei had issued a formal notice to the WHO.
Aljazeera quoted Quirno’s social media post on Tuesday this: “Today, Argentina’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) takes effect, marking one year since the formal notification was made by our country.”
“Argentina will continue to promote international cooperation in health through bilateral agreements and regional forums, while fully preserving its sovereignty and its capacity to make decisions regarding health policies,” it added.
Decision by decision Milei to pull his country out of the WHO followed a similar pattern under his right-wing ally, US President Donald Trump.
Javier Milei and Donald Trump have criticized the international organisations that they accuse of advancing progressive policies in areas such as health and medicine.
Last year’s announcement that Argentina would withdraw from the global health agency came roughly a month after the US President made a similar move.
In a statement then, the Argentine leader, Milei condemned the WHO for its health advice during the COVID-19 pandemic, part of which included measures put in place to limit the spread of the virus, such as masking, social distancing and vaccinations, became a common target of right-wing ire in countries around the world.
Milei, in his social media post had accused the WHO of being a “nefarious organization” that executed “the greatest experiment in social control in history”, referring to COVID safety measures.
The WHO, however, is largely an advisory body, and it does not dictate policies to member states.
The media outlet also observed in its report that, as of Tuesday, the agency listed 194 members, including Argentina, on its website.
The US had formalised its non membership in January 2026 for similar reasons, a decision lamented by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus., observing that “Unfortunately, the reasons cited for the US decision to withdraw from WHO are untrue,” Ghebreyesus said in a social media post at the time.
“The notification of withdrawal makes both the US and the world less safe,” the global health body stated regrettably.
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