FORMER health secretary and now House deputy majority leader Janette Garin said the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization may affect the resilience of the country’s health and other programs being supported by the WHO and even USAID.
“Napakaimportante nito sa Pilipinas kasi maraming usaping kalusugan at maraming programa sa kalusugan na kumukuha tayo ng funding support sa WHO. And of course expected na ‘yung USAID ay bababa ang mga tinutulong nito sa mga bansa sa movement na ito,” Garin said on Thursday when asked regarding the implications of US’ withdrawal from WHO.
Moreover, the lawmaker expressed concern over the potential implications of such a move, saying that it could pave the way for countries such as China or Russia—given their substantial economies—to assume leadership of the health organization, granting them access to sensitive information that might pose an international security threat.
“Ang kalusugan kapag may pandemya threat ‘yan sa buong mundo so sila ang mag initial access, that is what is going to happen.”
The former health secretary also flagged the need to reform the WHO costs, saying that unnecessary expenses should be reduced, such as the “frequent travels” and “wine and dine,” to allocate more funds to health-related matters.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order for the US to withdraw from WHO.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker believes that Trump made the decision as they want to spend more for their internal needs, which she said is “understandable.”
“‘Yung sinasabing mishandling nung pandemic, walang perpektong response sa pandemic, kaya sa totoo lang ang pananaw ko dyan, naghahanap lang ng rason ang America, ang katotohanan dyan, talagang nagtitipid sila because they want to spend more for their internal needs which is understandable sa panahong ito,” Garin noted.
The Iloilo First District Representative also pointed out the important role of WHO to global health as it primarily conducts surveillance to public health emergencies nationwide.
