《柳叶刀》：美国退出世卫组织非法且危害巨大

白宫6日正式通知联合国秘书长古特雷斯，宣布美国将于明年7月退出世界卫生组织。这一消息引发国际热议。英国医学期刊《柳叶刀》9日发表多名美国学者联署的评论文章，指出退出世卫组织将给美国的安全、外交和影响力等多个方面造成严重负面影响。

来自美国乔治敦大学、耶鲁大学、国家医学院、美国公共卫生协会等机构的学者在文章中指出，美国多个机构在关键领域与世卫组织开展合作，美国政府实际上很难真正把美国与这个国际组织的治理架构及相关项目“脱钩”。

文章指出，美国疾病控制和预防中心与世卫组织合作紧密，并强调一旦合作关系被打破，将会影响美国开发新冠疫苗和药物的能力，包括获取最新的流感病毒样本以及用于研发的相关数据。

这些学者指出，美国如果不参与世卫组织的相关合作项目，美国人民获得疫苗供应的能力将可能受限；美国如果不是世卫组织成员国，该国快速应对国际疾病暴发的全球卫生策略也将受影响，因为世卫组织长期跟踪全球的各类传染疾病暴发并作出反应。

文章最后指出，美国及全球的卫生和安全都需要美国与世卫组织开展强有力合作。切断与世卫组织的联系必然会给美国带来重大的干扰和破坏，退出世卫组织将会让美国人民处于更不安全的境地。

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the country would sever its relationship with the WHO on May 29, one month after he halted U.S. funding to the United Nations health agency over its alleged poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trump administration notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the WHO earlier this week.

Withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) would have "dire consequences" for the security, diplomacy and influence of the United States, said a commentary published Wednesday on The Lancet's website, the world's leading medical journal. 

"The U.S.A. cannot cut ties with the WHO without incurring major disruption and damage, making Americans far less safe," said the commentary, which was co-authored by 15 scholars from renowned American universities, the American Public Health Association and the National Academy of Sciences in Argentina. 

The "unilateral action notifying the UN" violates U.S. law, the commentary said, noting that the Trump administration "does not have express approval of Congress" to quit the organization. 

The United States joined the WHO "through a 1948 joint resolution passed by both houses of Congress" and the decision to leave the body and terminate its funding violates a binding condition in that resolution, the article explained. 

"The law mandates the U.S.A. must pay its financial obligations for the current fiscal year. Because withdrawal could not occur until next July, the U.S.A. must pay its mandatory WHO contributions through the end of 2021," it said. 

If Trump loses the presidential election in November, a new administration "could simply revoke the withdrawal upon taking office," it added.

"The WHO has unmatched global reach and legitimacy," the commentary said. "The U.S. administration would be hard pressed to disentangle the country from WHO governance and programs." 

It noted that "there are 21 WHO collaborating centers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and three at the National Institutes of Health, focused on U.S. priorities."

When seasonal influenza strikes in autumn, the U.S. "could be cut out of the global system to design annual influenza vaccines" after leaving the WHO, whose Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System collects data worldwide and studies circulating viruses, the scholars said in the article. 

"Severing ties with the WHO could impede U.S. access to crucial tools for developing biological countermeasures to influenza," they stressed. 

Currently, the UN body is conducting the "Solidarity Trial" for COVID-19 treatments joined by over 100 countries. "If the U.S.A. does not participate in these WHO initiatives, Americans could have limited access to scarce vaccine supplies, and are likely to be barred from travel to foreign destinations," the commentary said. 

The number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is over three million, and the death toll has surpassed 132,000. Both numbers are the largest in the world. 

A COVID-19 vaccine is vital for both safeguarding public health and safely reopening the society, the scholars pointed out. 

In addition, the U.S. would not be able to promote crucial reforms of the WHO after leaving it, they argued. 

"Health and security in the U.S.A. and globally require robust collaboration with the WHO – a cornerstone of U.S. funding and policy since 1948," they said.

（中文综述自新华社）

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