Argentina officially ratified its decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization on Tuesday, during U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s trip to Buenos Aires this week.

Argentine President Javier Milei made the executive decision to begin the withdrawal process in February, shortly after President Donald Trump took the same action on Inauguration Day in January.

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Kennedy and Argentine Health Minister Mario Lugones issued a joint statement saying that “the absence of meaningful reforms, disproportionate financial demands, and the increasing politicization of the organization have ultimately led the United States and Argentina to withdraw from the WHO.”

When they separately began the withdrawal process, both Trump and Milei cited failures of the WHO and the political pressure placed on the global health entity from the Chinese Communist Party to obscure the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kennedy and Lugones wrote in a statement Tuesday that, during the pandemic, “the WHO failed to provide critical access to information, impairing countries’ ability to act swiftly and effectively, with devastating global consequences.”

Last week, Kennedy issued a statement calling on other countries to withdraw from the WHO during the annual World Health Assembly, during which member states agreed to the terms of a Pandemic Accords treaty to better mitigate threats of global disease outbreaks.

Kennedy said last week that the U.S. has “already been in contact with like-minded countries,” hinting at the possibility of bilateral or multilateral agreements with other nations for shared health goals.

Health policy may be another area in which libertarian Milei and his right-wing government mirror Trump.

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The joint statement from Kennedy and Lugones highlighted the “historic progress” of the Make America Healthy initiative in the U.S. and stressed the shared commitment to a public health policy targeted toward root causes of chronic disease, “such as environmental toxins, nutritional deficiencies, and food safety standards.”

“We can no longer support a system that fails to protect our people or deliver on its mandate,” the health officials wrote. “The United States and Argentina invite all nations committed to scientific integrity, transparency, and the defense of human dignity to join us in shaping a new era of global health cooperation—one focused on results, sovereignty, and a safer future for all.”