Claims shared on social media state that Italy and Kenya have left the World Health Organization following the example of the United States. It is true that the U.S. president initiated the process of withdrawing from the WHO, but such a thing has not yet happened in Italy and Kenya.
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A Facebook post from January 31, 2025, states that after the United States, Italy and Kenya also left the World Health Organization (WHO). This “domino effect” was described as “the end of Rockefeller’s crimes against humanity”.
After the United States, Italy and Kenya also left WHO. Domino effect. The end of Rockefeller’s crimes against humanity.
Identical claims were posted on several other Facebook profiles (1, 2, 3).
What are the Facts?
On January 20, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that initiated the process of the United States’ withdrawal from membership in the World Health Organization (WHO). This is one of a series of executive orders, memorandums, and directives he signed after being inaugurated as the 47th president of the country. Reuters and Al Jazeera reported that the UN received formal notification that the U.S. is withdrawing from the WHO, citing a statement made by UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq. As noted in an analysis by Fact Check published on January 30, 2025, the one-year period during which the withdrawal process formally takes place is defined by legal regulations. On the other hand, according to some sources, there are chances that this process may be shorter (1, 2).
The World Health Organization is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN), as listed on the official UN agencies page. It was established on April 7, 1948, when representatives of 61 countries adopted the agency’s constitution.
The U.S. has been one of the largest donors to the WHO for decades, which is also highlighted on the official page of the organization. In a statement published on the WHO’s website on January 21, 2025, the day after Trump’s executive order was signed, it was stated that the organization “regrets the announcement that the U.S. plans to withdraw from membership”.
Trump had initiated the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO during his first term in 2020. The decision was reversed in 2021 when Joe Biden assumed the office of U.S. president.
Thus, the U.S. president signed an executive order to begin the process of the country’s withdrawal from the WHO. However, this is not the case with Italy and Kenya. An internet search does not show that these two countries have left the WHO or have formally begun this process (1, 2).
The current Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, Minister of Transport Matteo Salvini, presented the idea of adopting a law that would have the country withdraw from the WHO. This was reported by Politico, citing Salvini’s post on platform X from January 23, 2025. Italian Health Minister Orazio Schillac stated that the country “rejects legislative initiatives calling for withdrawal from the WHO”. The minister made this statement during a discussion in the lower house of the Italian Parliament. The proposed idea had not been translated into a formal law-making procedure at the time this analysis was written.
In an analysis of the claim that Kenya is leaving the WHO, published by Dubawa, a fact-checking platform from West Africa on February 1, 2025, it was stated that such claims were shared in the local language areas along with a video in which a man, identified as Wahome Ngare, a Kenyan gynecologist, speaks about distrust in the WHO. According to the analysis, the video was shared in 2024 and shows this doctor addressing the President of Uganda.
Kenyan health officials have expressed the need to explore new strategies to strengthen Kenya’s healthcare system after the U.S. left the WHO (1, 2). There are no credible reports that Kenya has “left” the WHO.
On the official WHO website, the U.S. is still listed as a member of the organization, although it is in the process of withdrawing. Italy and Kenya are also among the members. In the “News” and “Press Releases” sections of the WHO website, in addition to the aforementioned statement about Trump’s decision to withdraw, there are no announcements that any country has initiated the process of leaving the organization.
The analyzed posts also claim that the “domino effect” of leaving the WHO is “the end of Rockefeller’s crimes against humanity”. The Rockefeller banking family is a common actor in conspiracy theories about elites establishing the “New World Order” and seeking to subjugate and control humanity. The UN and its agencies are portrayed in these conspiracy theories as tools for achieving these goals or as transitional forms towards a “global government” with a centralized global power. Raskrinkavanje has previously written about claims that this family is behind a plan to “establish a New World Order” and that it founded the WHO (1, 2).
Therefore, we assess the first post claiming that Italy and Kenya are leaving the WHO, following the example of the U.S. as fake news. Other posts of this claim are considered to be a distribution of fake news. The claim that this is a “domino effect” which will end “Rockefeller’s crimes” is rated as a conspiracy theory.
(Author: Mladen Lakić, Raskrinkavanje.ba)
