Donald Trump’s government announced on Friday that the United States rejected the amendments adopted in 2024 by the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat pandemics, saying that they violated American sovereignty.
In 2024, the member countries of the WHO adopted amendments to the International Health Regulations (RSI), a legally binding framework to respond to public health emergencies which had shown its limits during the COVIR.
US President Donald Trump decided upon his return to power in January to withdraw the United States from this UN agency. But, according to the State Department, these amendments are still binding for the country.
The Minister of Health Robert Kennedy Jr, known for his vaccinosceptic positions, and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirm in a press release that these amendments are likely to unduly hinder our sovereign law to develop our health policy ‘.
‘We will place the Americans first in all our actions, and we will not tolerate any international policy which undermines freedom of expression, private life or individual freedoms of the Americans,’ added the press release.
The amendments introduce the notion of pandemic emergency ‘and’ more solidarity and equity ‘, according to the WHO.
They had been adopted after the organization failed last year to conclude a more ambitious global agreement in the fight against pandemics. In 2025, this agreement had finally been concluded, but without the United States.
‘We regret the decision of the United States to reject the amendments,’ said OMS head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a press release published on X.
He stressed that the amendments ‘is clear about the sovereignty of the member states’, adding that the WHO could not decide on confinements or similar measures.
Washington, under the chairmanship of Joe Biden, had taken part in the negotiations in 2024 but had not managed to find a consensus. The United States indeed demanded more protections concerning intellectual property rights on American vaccines.
Marco Rubio’s predecessor Antony Blinken later praised the amendments, describing them as progress.
‘They do not adequately treat the vulnerability of the WHO to political influence and censorship, especially on the part of China, during epidemics,’ added the two ministers on Friday to justify their rejection.
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