The World Health Organization has welcomed the decision by U.S. states to join the agency’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, or GOARN, which brings together public health agencies, laboratories, academic institutions, and NGOs worldwide to share surveillance data and deploy experts to help countries affected by outbreaks.
Global health experts see the decision by the states of California, New York, and Illinois as symbolic — a statement to the current U.S. federal government that they do not align with its decision to withdraw from WHO.
It also comes with mutual benefits.