Nature: What the growing rift between the U.S. and WHO means for COVID-19 and global health
“Experts in health policy are contending with the real possibility that the United States will pull away from the World Health Organization (WHO), fracturing a relationship that began in the wake of the Second World War. They say that the repercussions could range from a resurgence of polio and malaria, to barriers in the flow of information on COVID-19. Scientific partnerships around the world would also be damaged, and the United States could lose influence over global health initiatives, including those to distribute drugs and vaccines for the new coronavirus as they become available, say researchers…” (Maxmen, 5/27).

POLITICO: U.S. abdicating global leadership role, leader of European development bank says
“The leader of one of the world’s most prominent development banks today accused the United States — its biggest shareholder — of a lack of leadership, and called for a new global agreement for development financing to help repair economic damage from the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking at a joint POLITICO-Atlantic Council virtual event, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Suma Chakrabarti said the amount of private and public financing now required to fix economies battered by coronavirus is a quantum leap beyond the current capacity of multilateral financial institutions…” (Heath, 5/27).

U.N. News: U.S. states ‘manipulating’ COVID-19 pandemic to restrict abortion access, rights experts charge
“Independent U.N. human rights experts fear that some authorities in the United States are using the COVID-19 pandemic to restrict access to abortion, with at least eight states suspending procedures deemed medically unnecessary. Members of the U.N. Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls issued a statement on Wednesday expressing regret that states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Iowa, Ohio, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee ‘appear to be manipulating the crisis’ to curb women’s reproductive rights…” (5/27).

WBUR: The CDC And The Pandemic: A Look Inside The Public Health Agency
“The CDC was once one of the most respected public health agencies in the world. Now, it’s barely visible in the middle of a pandemic. So what happened?…” (Scheimer/Chakrabarti, 5/28).