(Reuters) -U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Argentine Minister of Health Mario Lugones slammed the World Health Organization as their countries affirmed exits from the group in a joint statement on Tuesday.
Kennedy and Lugones criticized WHO's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it showed "structural and operational shortcomings that undermined global trust and highlighted the urgent need for independent, science-based leadership in global health."
"Withdrawal marks the beginning of a new path - toward building a modern global health cooperation model grounded in scientific integrity, transparency, sovereignty, and accountability," Kennedy and Lugones said.
Kennedy visited Argentina this week and met with President Javier Milei about the withdrawal and what the U.S. official called the "creation of an alternative international health system," in an X post on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in one of the first official acts of his second term, ordered the U.S. to exit the WHO within a year, citing the "inappropriate political influence of WHO member states."
Trump also balked at "unfairly onerous payments" by the U.S., WHO's largest financial supporter.
Argentina announced its departure from WHO in February.
According to two sources and a document reviewed by Reuters, the Trump administration considered remaining in WHO if reforms were made, including having a U.S. director-general.
(Reporting by Christian Martinez; Editing by Richard Chang)
