Health and Risk Communication Center WHO Position Statement

October 26, 2020

As experts and stakeholders in the areas of health and risk communication, public, environmental, and animal health the following people strongly oppose U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the deadliest global pandemic in a century. We believe this decision is dangerous and shortsighted.

As the foremost institution for global health research and response, the WHO has a mandate to monitor public health risks, coordinate responses to health emergencies, and promote the highest standard of health and well-being for all. Since its founding over 70 years ago, in which the U.S. played an important role, the WHO has led the global response to health emergencies and global pandemics such as tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, zika, avian influenza, and SARS. The WHO is at the forefront of global collaboration on issues of human, animal, and ecological health.

At a time when COVID-19 case counts are rising exponentially in much of the United States and around the world, the U.S. and the world need the leadership of the WHO and global cooperation among health practitioners, researchers, and public health officials more urgently than ever before.

An effective response to COVID-19, climate change, and other problems facing the world today must be evidence-based and grounded in data; it requires global cooperation, coordination and communication from all countries around the world, especially the United States. Indeed, the pandemic is a stark reminder that the fates of the U.S. and the rest of the world are deeply interconnected.

This resolution calls for the Trump Administration to immediately reverse this decision, restore and protect funding to WHO and work to ensure global cooperation in the pandemic response.

Signed,

Maria Lapinski, Director, Health and Risk Communication Center (HRCC), Michigan State University (MSU)

And all the undersigned, not inclusive of the entire HRCC core faculty.

For support on behalf of organizations

Organization name	Organization mission	Number of members
National Communication Association	The National Communication Association advances Communication as the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media, and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic inquiry.	~6,500

For individual support

First Name	Last Name	Title	Organization
Amber	Wise	Outreach specialist	MSU HRCC
Monique	Turner	Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication	MSU HRCC
James W.	Dearing	Professor, Department of Communication	Michigan State U
Patricia	Huddleston	Professor, Department of Advertising + Public Relations	MSU, ADPR
Mary	Bresnahan	Professor, Department of Communication	MSU
Ashley	Sanders-Jackson	Assistant Professor, Department of Advertising and Public Relations	Michigan State University
Geri Alumit	Zeldes	Professor, School of Journalism	Michigan State U.
Jeff	Searl	Associate Professor, Communicative Sciences & Disorders	MSU
Daniel	Bergan	Associate Professor, Department of Communication	MSU
Wei	Peng	Professor, Department of Media and Information	MSU
Winson	Peng	Associate Professor, Department of Communication	MICHIGAN STATE U
Dar	Meshi	Associate Professor, Department of Advertising and Public Relations	Michigan State University
Allison	Eden	Associate Professor, Department of Communication	Michigan State University
Ralf	Schmaelzle	Assistant Professor, Department of Communication	Michigan State University
Nancy	Rhodes	Associate Professor, Department of Advertising and Public Relations	Michigan State University
Bree	Holtz	Assistant Professor, Department of Advertising + Public Relations and Director of the Health and Risk Communication Masters Program	Michigan State University
J Scott	Yaruss	Professor, Communicative Sciences and Disorders	Michigan State University
Esther	Thorson	Professor, School of Journalism	Michigan State University
Jade	Greear	Graduate Assistant	MSU HRCC

Jennifer	Olson	Associate Professor, Department of Media and Information	Michigan State University
Laura	Dilley	Associate Professor, Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders	Michigan State University
Folu	Ogundimu	Professor, School of Journalism	Michigan State University
Fashina	Alade	Assistant Professor, Advertising + Public Relations	MSU HRCC
Elizabeth	Dorrance Hall	Assistant Professor, Communication Department	Michigan State University
Maria	Molina	Assistant Professor, Department of Advertising & Public Relations	Michigan State University
William	Donohue	Professor of Communication	Michigan State University
Amanda	Holmstrom	Associate Professor, Department of Communication	Michigan State University
Young Anna	Argyris	Assistant Professor, Department Media and Information	Michigan State University
Edward	Maibach	Distinguished University Professor	George Mason University
Jennifer	Kam	Professor	University of California, Santa Barbara
Jeff	Niederdeppe	Professor, Department of Communication, Director of the Health Communication Research Initiative (HCRI); Co-Director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity (CCHEq)	Cornell University
Gary	Kreps	University Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication	George Mason University
Kami	Silk	Chairperson, Department of Communication & Rosenberg Professor	University of Delaware
Daniel	Totzkay	Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Studies	West Virginia University
Rajiv	Rimal	Professor & Chair Department of Health, Behavior & Society	Johns Hopkins University
Christine	Skubisz	Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition	University of Delaware
Amy	Bleakley	Professor, Department of Communication	University of Delaware
Stephen	Haas	Associate Professor, Department of Communication	University of Cincinnati

Megan	Dillow	Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies	West Virginia University
Chris	Clarke	Associate Professor, Department of Communication	George Mason University
Dave	Keating	Assistant Professor, Department of Communication & Journalism	University of New Mexico
Bruno	Takahashi	Associate Professor, School of Journalism	Michigan State University
Itzhak	Yanovitzky	Professor, School of Communication & Information and School of Public Health	Rutgers University
Dhavan	Shah	Maier-Bascom Professor; Director, Mass Communication Research Center	University of Wisconsin
Shawn	Turner	Professor of Practice, College of Communication Arts and Sciences	Michigan State University
Chris	Skurka	Assistant professor, College of Communications	Penn State University
Mike	Wagner	Professor; Director, Center for Communication and Civic Renewal	University of Wisconsin
Richard	Craig	Associate Professor, Department of Communication	George Mason University
Nancy	Harrington	Professor, Department of Communication	University of Kentucky
Sojung	Kim	Assistant Professor, Department of Communication	George Mason University
Katheryn	Christy	Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication	University of Wisconsin-Madison
Carl	Botan	Professor, Dept.of Communication	George Mason University
Matthew	Savage	Associate Professor, School of Communication	San Diego State University
Teresa	Mastin	Professor, Chairperson, Department of Advertising & Public Relation	Michigan State University
Brian	Quick	Professor, Department of Communication	University of Illinois
Nichole	Egbert	Professor, School of Communication Studies	Kent State University
W. Douglas	Evans	Professor, Department of Prevention & Community Health	The George Washington University
Sandi	Smith	University Distinguished Professor, Department of Communication	Michigan State University

Shawnika	Hull	Assistant Professor, Department of Communication	Rutgers University
Andrew	Poole	Educational Program Coordinator, Student Health & Wellness	Michigan State University
Manny	Chavez	Professor and Director of School of Journalism -Information and Media PhD program	Michigan State University
Courtney	Scherr	Assistant Professor Center for Communication and Health - Department of Communication Studies	Northwestern University
Lammers	John	Professor, Department of Communication	University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Kathryn	Greene	Professor, Department of Communication	Rutgers University
Singhal	Arvind	Professor Department of Communication	The University of Texas at El Paso
Elisabeth	Bigsby	Assistant Professor, Department of Communication	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Teresa	Thompson	Editor, Health Communication	University of Dayton and University of KS-Edwards
Ashley	Duggan	Associate Professor	Boston College
Charee	Thompson	Assistant Professor, Department of Communication	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign