US must notify WHO 1 yr before cutting ties with organization

The US law stipulates that the country must give the World Health Organization (WHO) a year's notice before it terminates the US relationship with the organization, according to Time magazine.

The US must also meet its financial obligations to the WHO for the current year even if it were to cut ties with the organization next year, wrote the weekly news magazine.

"So, at the least, nothing would really change until mid-2021", the magazine said, "and until the US pays off the $60 million it currently owes the WHO".

On April 14, US President Donald Trump announced that the country was placing a hold on funding to the WHO for 60-90 days over its handling of COVID-19.

Were the US to leave the WHO, scientists and public health officials in the states would suddenly find themselves cut off from some of the most important global health communication channels, Time reports.