Argentina to follow US lead and exit the World Health Organization

Argentina will leave the World Health Organization (WHO) due to the mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic, a spokesman for right-wing populist President Javier Milei said on Wednesday.

The decision comes two weeks after President Donald Trump announced, on the first day of his second term, that the United States would leave the UN health body.

"President Javier Milei has instructed Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein to withdraw Argentina from the WHO," said government spokesman Manuel Adorni at a press conference.

Like Trump, Milei's spokesman said the Argentinian government has profound disagreements with the WHO regarding the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We Argentines will not allow an international organization to interfere with our sovereignty and certainly not with our health," said Adorni.

At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the South American country imposed very strict measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Curfews were in place longer than in almost any other country in the world and, in some cases, people were only allowed to leave their homes for essential shopping and doctor's appointments.

Milei became president in December 2023.