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| - A screenshot of a report from The Economic Times is going viral online to claim that the Indian government is considering exiting the World Health Organization (WHO).
The headline in the viral photo says, "'WHO has lost its independence, Indian govt should exit global health body."
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a relevant keyword search on Google which led us to this report shared The Economic Times on 2 December 2023.
The headline matched with the one seen in the viral image however, it further stated that this statement was said by British-Indian cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra.
The entire report was based on Malhotra's interview and it did not mention any government official or official body.
Malhotra further explained his point in the report. "Seventy percent of the funding of the WHO 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," he said.
Further, we also found Malhotra's post on X (formerly Twitter) from 29 January 2025, wherein he shared a screenshot of the same report.
The caption read, “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. (sic)”
His bio also confirmed that he is not affiliated to any Indian governmental body and he described himself as a cardiologist, campaigner and an author.
We also did not find any credible news reports about India exiting the WHO.
We also checked websites of WHO and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and found no recent announcements related to India's alleged withdrawal from the health agency.
Conclusion: A misleading report is going viral to falsely claim that after USA, India will now withdraw from the WHO.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on , or e-mail it to us at and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories .)
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