Public health experts have questioned how the US can continue to be a global public health leader. As part of sweeping HHS staffing cuts last year, the CDC’s Global Health Centre lost its director and some other employees. “It’s almost laughable that the Trump administration thinks they can lead in global health,” said Lawrence Gostin, a law professor at Georgetown University and director of a WHO Collaborating Centre for National and Global Health Law. “They’ve decimated the global health capacities of the CDC. They’ve slashed global health funding around the world.”It’s unclear how the formal withdrawal will affect some key meetings where US officials have historically played a major role.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 23, 2026 13:36 UTC