Fact Check: India has not suggested exiting WHO

The Verdict False The viral screenshot of The Economic Times report is old and the views are attributed to Dr. Aseem Malhotra, not to any Indian government official. What is the claim? Social media users are circulating a screenshot of The Economic Times report, claiming that the Indian government is considering exiting the World Health Organization (WHO).

The report headlined, "'WHO has lost its independence, Indian govt should exit global health body,'" features the WHO logo. An X user shared the photo with the caption, “Just when you think your day couldn’t get better..



.India suggests EXITING the W.H.

O.” At the time of this writing this story, the post had amassed over 420,000 views, 38,000 likes, and 9,400 shares. Archived versions of this and other similar posts can be seen here , here , here , here , and here .

The claim surfaced after the United States withdrew from the WHO on January 20, 2025. Screenshots of similar claims posted on social media. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts).

However, we found no reports that the Indian government is considering exiting the WHO. The viral article actually dates back to 2023 and presents the personal views of British-Indian doctor Aseem Malhotra on the global agency. What are the facts? Upon conducting a Google search using relevant keywords, we found that the viral screenshot originated from The Economic Times report published on December 2, 2023, with the headline, “'WHO has lost its independence, Indian govt should exit global health body.

'" The report shared the views of British-Indian cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra, who had delivered a lecture at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on "The Corporate Capture of Medicine and Public Health" in the same month. Screenshot of the news report published in 2023.

(Source: ET/Modified by Logically Facts) According to the report , Malhotra alleged that the "WHO has lost its independence" and suggested that the Indian government should withdraw from the organization, stating, “Seventy percent of the funding of the World Health Organisation comes from commercial entities...

. As long as the WHO is getting industry funding or funding from vested interests, it should not be considered independent and the Indian government should ignore its advice. Those commercial entities are not interested in your health, they will make money by deception.

” We also found an X post (archived here ) by Malhotra from January 29, 2025, in which he shared a screenshot of the same report, saying, “After giving a lecture in India’s most prestigious medical institution in 2023, the Times of India reported on my calls for the world’s largest democracy to exit the WHO. I’m pleased to see @realDonaldTrump has taken the lead and also now Italy. Let’s hope others follow.

” This indicates that the shared article presented Dr. Malhotra's views on India’s membership in the WHO in 2023. Malhotra, however, has no affiliation with the Indian government, and no such comments have come from any Indian official.

The article also predates the U.S.' withdrawal from the health organization, which was announced on January 20, 2025.

Further, we did not find any report about any such consideration or announcement on the official social media accounts of WHO and the Indian government's Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (archived here and here ). We also searched the WHO and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare websites and found no recent news related to India's purported withdrawal from the health agency. Instead, we found multiple news reports published on January 29, 2025, stating that Indian Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on January 28, 2025, said that "the U.

S.' withdrawal from the WHO would not impact the ongoing programmes and projects in India" with the global agency. Screenshot of a news report indicating that exiting of U.

S. from WHO will not impact ongoing projects in India. (Source: ANI/Modified by Logically Facts) The verdict The viral screenshot of The Economic Times report shows the views of a British-Indian Cardiologist regarding India's membership in the World Health Organization, and predates the recent U.

S.' exit from the organization. There has been no announcement from the Indian government or any officials about withdrawal from the agency.

(This article was first posted by Tahil Ali for logicallyfacts and re-shared by Deccan Chronicle as part of the Shakti Collective Fact Check initiative )..