Argentina Leaves World Health Organization, Wants New Club

Argentina finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) this week, citing concern that the United Nations agency is driven by political and bureaucratic interests rather than by science, the Guardian reported. 

The South American country’s withdrawal makes it the first country on the continent to leave the organization and follows in the footsteps of the United States, which announced its intention to exit the WHO in late January.  

The announcement followed a visit by US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the capital of Buenos Aires on Tuesday. Both Kennedy and Argentine President Javier Milei are critics of the WHO and say they want a new international health organization based on scientific evidence and national sovereignty, according to MercoPress. 

Milei insists that the international community needs to reconsider the authority of supranational organizations and instead prioritize each country’s right to national health policies.  

Argentina has previously criticized the WHO for how it handled the Covid-19 emergency, calling the management “disastrous” with its “caveman quarantine.” 

During the meeting with US officials, Argentine Health Minister Mario Lugones announced the intention to impose stricter rules on food, medicines, and vaccines. He added that clinical studies for vaccines will require placebo groups, referring to the Covid-19 vaccine’s exceptional approval without these.