BLOG # 1

I chose this topic to blog because the majority of the country wanted us (USA) back in the W.H.O , so I'm happy we are.

 

Biden to reengage with World Health Organization, will join global vaccine effort

Former vice president Mike Pence and former second lady Karen Pence walk down the steps of the U.S. Capitol with Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff after the inauguration of President Biden. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Pool)

By 

Emily Rauhala

Jan. 20, 2021 at 7:48 p.m. EST

The Biden administration will reengage with the World Health Organization and opt into a multilateral effort to distribute vaccines around the world, reversing two decisions by the Trump administration that ripped the country away from public health diplomacy in the middle of a pandemic.

Biden signed a series of directives hours after taking office, including a call to halt the country’s withdrawal from the U.N. health agency. Secretary of State-designate Tony Blinken said in his confirmation hearing Tuesday that the United States will participate in Covax, an international effort to source and distribute vaccines.

By moving quickly on both issues, the incoming administration signaled a return to a more cooperative approach to global health amid a crisis that has already claimed more than 2 million lives worldwide. But after months of WHO-bashing, threats and domestic chaos, America’s future role and influence remain an open question.

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Biden’s ability to reenter the coronavirus fight is therefore seen as one early test of his ability to reengage with the rest of the world after four years of “America First” foreign policy.

There is no question that the WHO will continue to work with the United States, its largest donor, experts said. But it remains to be seen whether the appetite for U.S. leadership remains the same.

“I think it’s mixed emotions,” said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“The WHO is going to welcome them,” he said. “But there’s going to be an edge to it.”

The start of a new U.S. administration comes at a make-or-break moment for the Geneva-based agency — and for health diplomacy more broadly.

Over the past year, the coronavirus pandemic has tested the multilateral order, particularly the WHO, which has found itself at the center of a global health crisis and a geopolitical storm over China’s role in the international system.

The early days of the Biden administration will coincide with annual WHO meetings. To signal U.S. support, Biden will send a delegation led by top infectious-disease expert Anthony S. Fauci, who is expected to deliver remarks on Thursday.