Illinois will join WHO's outbreak response network in defiance of Trump

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February 3, 2026 10:45 PM EST

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker speaks during a Veterans Day commemoration at the Manuel Perez Jr. Plaza in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., November 11, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Illinois ⁠will join ⁠the ‍World Health Organization's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) following the United States' ‍departure from the UN health agency last ​month, Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said on Tuesday.

The ​move makes Illinois the second U.S. state to join the program in defiance of Republican President Donald Trump after California, also ​led by a Democratic governor, joined in January. The U.S. formally left the WHO ​last month after completing a one-year waiting period following an executive ‌order that Trump signed on his first day back in office in January 2025.

"I ​refuse to sit by ⁠as Donald Trump undermines science and weakens our nation's ability to detect and ‌respond to global health threats," Pritzker, an outspoken Trump critic, said in a post on social media ‌website X.

"By joining the World Health Organization’s coordinated network, ‌GOARN, we are ensuring that our public health leaders - and the public - have the information, expertise, and partnerships they ‍need to protect the people of our state," Pritzker said in a ⁠statement.

The network responds to public health events around the world, such as pandemics and disease outbreaks, and comprises more than 360 technical institutions.

(Reporting by Christian Martinez; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)


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