Almost immediately after his inauguration on Jan. 20th, President Donald Trump signed the executive order to withdraw America from the World Health Organization. 

The W.H.O. has helped the world with the toughest problems we’ve faced, such as smallpox, COVID-19, polio, and many other health-related problems.

The organization includes 194 out of 195 countries in the world, now beginning to be 193 due to America’s withdrawal.

So what does this mean for the U.S.?

Well, the isolation that this withdrawal gives us will only encourage diseases and other health concerns to travel to us, since health concerns won’t stop just because of a border.

To the people’s knowledge, there is no alternative program that the U.S. could replace the World Health Organization with, meaning that America would either have to create its own health agency, or not have one at all.

Not only would this affect America, but also the rest of the world.

As of now, the United States is the W.H.O.’s largest contributor, providing at least 20% of its budget. Many countries would have to start giving much more to compensate for that loss.

This global isolation can also prevent other countries from using our resources, which could prevent solutions to these global issues.

While people are frightened by this announcement, they can only hope that the president will prioritize America’s health over its profits.