GENEVA – United States Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr harshly criticised the World Health Organisation (WHO) during its annual assembly on May 20, calling the global health agency “bloated” and “moribund” in a pre-recorded video message. His remarks, delivered via a broadcast shown to ministers and diplomats attending the assembly in Geneva, highlighted the US decision to withdraw from the WHO, a move initiated on the first day of President Donald Trump’s administration. The withdrawal has left the WHO with a major funding gap, prompting urgent budgetary reforms now under discussion at the assembly.
Kennedy’s message urged global health leaders to view the US withdrawal as a “wake-up call” and said that Washington had already engaged with other like-minded countries, encouraging them to reconsider their support for the UN body. His comments, which echoed President Trump’s past accusations of WHO mismanagement during the COVID-19 pandemic and alleged bias toward China, were met with silence from attendees, with no immediate public response from the floor.
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and vocal critic of vaccines, also described the WHO as “mired in bureaucratic bloat, entrenched paradigms, conflicts of interest and international power politics.” He proposed creating new or reformed institutions that would be “lean, efficient, transparent and accountable” to replace or supplement the current system. His remarks came just hours after WHO member states adopted a new agreement aimed at improving global preparedness for future pandemics. Kennedy, however, dismissed the accord, claiming it would “lock in all the dysfunctions of the WHO pandemic response.”