“Like many legacy institutions, the WHO has become mired in bureaucratic bloat, entrenched paradigms, conflicts of interest, and international power politics.”

WASHINGTON, DC— Today in a release with video remarks aired during the Seventy-Eighth World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. defended the Trump Administration’s intent to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) and shared his vision for the future of global health.

“Like many legacy institutions, the WHO has become mired in bureaucratic bloat, entrenched paradigms, conflicts of interest, and international power politics,” said Secretary Kennedy. “While the United States has provided the lion’s share of the organization’s funding historically, other countries such as China have exerted undue influence over its operations in ways that serve their own interests and not particularly the interests of the global public.”

Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to bring the prices American taxpayers pay for prescription drugs in line with those paid by similar nations. At the signing event, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said several of his family, who were Bernie Sanders supporters came to tears upon hearing that President Trump would do today what many candidates for President have promised for generations.

A fact sheet accompanying the signing outlines details:

• The Order directs the U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce to take action to ensure foreign countries are not engaged in practices that purposefully and unfairly undercut market prices and drive price hikes in the United States.
• The Order instructs the Administration to communicate price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to establish that America, the largest purchaser and funder of prescription drugs in the world, gets the best deal.
• The Secretary of Health and Human Services will establish a mechanism through which American patients can buy their drugs directly from manufacturers who sell to Americans at a “Most-Favored-Nation” price, bypassing middlemen.
• If drug manufacturers fail to offer most-favored-nation pricing, the Order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) propose rules that impose most-favored-nation pricing; and (2) take other aggressive measures to significantly reduce the cost of prescription drugs to the American consumer and end anti-competitive practices.