California and Illinois have joined the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network despite the United States withdrawing from the entity.
California became the first state to join the network in January, with Governor Gavin Newsom (D) stating at the time that the Trump administration’s withdrawal from WHO was a “reckless decision that will hurt all Californians and Americans.”
“California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring, he said, declaring that the state will “continue to foster partnerships across the globe and remain at the forefront of public health preparedness, including through our membership as the only state in WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network.”
Illinois joined the network this week, with Governor JB Pritzker claiming that the withdrawal has “undermined science and weakened our nation’s ability to detect and respond to global health threats.”
Asserting that he will not “sit idly by,” Pritzker noted the state is “ensuring that our public health leaders – and the public – have the information, expertise, and partnerships they need to protect the people of our state. Across our state and alongside valued partners around the world, Illinois will continue to put science, preparedness, and people first.”
Joining the WHO network allows the states to have access to outbreak intelligence and support in the event of a health crisis.
Last month, the United States officially left the WHO, a move aligning with President Trump’s 2025 executive order declaring that the WHO mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and failed to “demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
“Although the United States was a founding member and the WHO’s largest financial contributor, the organization pursued a politicized, bureaucratic agenda driven by nations hostile to American interests,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in joint statement. “In doing so, the WHO obstructed the timely and accurate sharing of critical information that could have saved American lives and then concealed those failures under the pretext of acting ‘in the interest of public health.’”
