Kenya has been put on high alert by the United States after the superpower called on countries to consider withdrawing from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr on Tuesday, May 20, made some interesting remarks which threatened to shake up the global healthcare sector as we know it.
In a video message played during WHO's annual meeting in Geneva, Kennedy described WHO as outdated, slow and heavily influenced by politics.
According to Kennedy, nothing was stopping member countries of the WHO from breaking out and pioneering another global body.
“We don’t have to stick with a broken system,” Kennedy said. “Let’s build new institutions that are transparent, efficient, and work for all of us.”
On the first day of Donald Trump's presidency, the US, which is the WHO's biggest funder, made a statement of intent by withdrawing from the agency, consequently leaving a huge gap in the WHO's budget.
Kennedy, during the annual meeting, urged WHO member states to treat the US's withdrawal as a wake-up call, adding that like-minded countries were in talks to consider leaving the agency.
The US's withdrawal from the WHO was a long time coming since the country has long accused the agency of poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before Kennedy's speech was aired, WHO made a mitigating move by announcing an agreement aimed at improving responses to future pandemics, an announcement which Kennedy played down.
The latest call from the US is once again set to put Kenya in a precarious position, especially because Kenya relies heavily on the WHO for support on various issues pertaining to health systems, disease outbreaks and funding for local health projects.
Because of the high stakes and everything Kenya stands to lose, exiting the WHO may not necessarily be an option.
At the same time, if the US actualises its plans of forming a separate global health agency, the Kenyan government may be compelled to play ball or risk severing critical ties with the US.
