To the Editor:Re “Trump Says U.S. Is Leaving W.H.O., but Experts Aren’t So Sure” (news article, May 30):The United States has been the largest funder of the World Health Organization because it has recognized that partnership with this respected international organization is critical to successful global public health programs. Withdrawal means closing off opportunities for U.S. leadership in global diseases of interest, which protects us by controlling disease outbreaks before they reach our borders, as was done with SARS, MERS, Ebola and avian influenza. Withdrawal means ending a nearly 70-year-old partnership with W.H.O.’s Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, which provides data for selecting candidates for the yearly composition of lifesaving influenza vaccines. Abandoning the W.H.O. during the worst pandemic in modern history will be seen historically as both self-defeating and as one of the greatest failures of U.S. public health and foreign policy.

Source: International New York Times June 19, 2020 22:30 UTC