The APDH issued a statement,questioning the president’s announcement and said that it is “an ideological decision, consistent with the pro-imperialist-colonial policy of the United States.” It also accused him and his allies of promoting a policy based on “every man for himself” and on Washington’s mandates.

“Such a decision is a real leap into the void in terms of health and fundamental rights. Being part of the WHO is beneficial due to its role as coordinator in collaborative actions, which allow for better prices in the purchase of medicines and vaccines,” the statement says.

The organization highlighted the promotion of technical cooperation, financing to obtain supplies in case of pandemics, scientific training and exchange between specialists. It also explained that the WHO allows access to updated bibliography and the training of experts and professionals in general. In addition, it gives the possibility of having a health monitoring of all nations, which guarantees a rapid state of alert at a global level in the event of new crises.

“As an impoverished country, with scarce resources, Argentina’s situation is aggravated by decision-making that goes against international scientific advances, which makes us go back decades in time,” the APDH stated.

Moreover, the Assembly condemned the decision to destroy agencies and State institutions linked to health, to end the Ministry, to close hospitals or empty them, to end interdisciplinary teams, to withdraw benefits and medicines from the elderly, to deny specific drugs to people with cancer and HIV, and to leave hundreds of workers on the street, among other actions of the Executive.

“In the face of such a criminal act, no one should look the other way. In the face of so much brutality, insensitivity and dehumanization in the face of the needs of a society already seriously affected by policies of plunder and exclusion, we express our strongest rejection of such a decision,” the organization stated. “We demand that this clumsy measure be immediately reviewed to prevent the serious deterioration underway from advancing and causing irreversible damage to the public health of our country,” it concluded.

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