Article Summary JB Pritzker announced Illinois will join the World Health Organization’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, allowing the state to receive information about spreading diseases and how to respond to them.
The move comes after the Trump administration in 2025 withdrew from WHO, cutting the U.S. off from some global health information sharing and response networks.
This follows similar steps Pritzker has taken to counter federal health policies like changes to childhood vaccine schedules. This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
Illinois will join the World Health Organization’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, or GOARN, to counterbalance the federal government’s withdrawal, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Tuesday.
The network monitors disease outbreaks across the globe and prepares countries to respond to those outbreaks. As a member, Illinois will have access to research, timely alerts and information about outbreaks, risk assessments and trainings so state officials can respond to public health emergencies.
The move follows President Donald Trump leaving the international health organization in January 2025.
“By withdrawing from the World Health Organization, Donald Trump has undermined science and weakened our nation’s ability to detect and respond to global health threats,” Pritzker said in a news release. “I refuse to sit idly by and let that happen.”
Many WHO meetings involve national governments around the world, but GOARN is open to a wider variety of groups. It connects hundreds of public institutions, laboratories, academic institutions and different levels of government to detect and respond to public health threats like COVID-19, influenza and other diseases.
“Membership in this network strengthens Illinois’ preparedness for future pandemics and emerging threats,” the release states.
Illinois will bring laboratory capacity to the organization, including genomic sequencing and wastewater surveillance developed for COVID-19. Illinois also provides expertise in outbreak investigations and communication about risk.
... continue reading