Trump moved to quit the United Nations health agency during his last presidency and is expected to take similar steps in his new administration, possibly as soon as he is inaugurated on Monday.
The US is the WHO's biggest donor, and experts agree its exit would be a blow for the Geneva agency and the health of the world more broadly.
For every US$ 1 invested, WHO delivers US$ 35 in impact — this return on investment saves lives and builds resilience.— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) Together, we can save lives: https://t.co/Y4naoq6Dqg#InvestInWHO pic.twitter.com/715VqaBrDEJanuary 17, 2025
But it could also leave the US out in the cold during emerging outbreaks and of routine disease surveillance, which could impact the country's national security and pharmaceutical industry, the list suggests.
The WHO has not pushed publicly for a change of heart from its member state, instead saying the administration needed time and they hoped to continue the partnership for the health of the world.
The list comes at the request of prominent American global health advocates, one of them told Reuters, saying they would use it to stress the risk to the US of a WHO exit.
"It would be a deep wound to the WHO, to health globally, but an even more grievous wound to the US national interest and we are making that case as forcefully as we can," said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health at Georgetown University in Washington and director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law.
Even if Trump announces his decision on day one of his presidency, by domestic law there is a one-year notice period before the US leaves the agency, during which time the advocates - including scientists, businesses, former officials and civil society - hope to change his mind.
It is not yet clear if they will present their findings directly to the Trump transition team or via a public letter.
Other figures have also campaigned for the WHO in recent weeks, including former British prime minister and WHO envoy Gordon Brown.
Donald Trump announced the US would withdraw from UN agency WHO in 2020 - and might do so again. (AP PHOTO)
Health sources said the WHO has also been holding meetings and preparing for months and is ready to argue its case.
"I know they have been identifying activities of WHO which would still be in the interest of the US, even in the eyes of a Trump administration," said a Geneva-based diplomat from a major donor country, briefed on the WHO's preparations.
The list outlines how the US outside the WHO would be deprived of vital information about any emerging disease - including H5N1 avian flu - that could become the next pandemic, the sources said.
"If we hollowed WHO out ... that is going to come back to the US. Germs don't respect borders," Gostin said.
It also details the importance of access to international flu surveillance data and the cost for US pharmaceutical companies of missing out on the latest WHO information.
The World Health Organization did not respond to a request for comment on the list.
Gostin and two other experts in America said other steps could be taken in the next 12 months if Trump signalled a plan to exit, including potential lawsuits questioning whether the administration could leave without consulting Congress, which decided the US would join the WHO in 1948.
