India, Jan. 25 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a detailed statement regretting the United States decision to leave the UN agency, and declaring that it will leave both the US and the world less safe as a result.

The statement, released on Saturday, also includes a rebuttal of the US administration's reasoning for the measures. In response to government statements that the WHO has "trashed and tarnished" and insulted it, and compromised its independence, the agency notes that "the reverse true," and that the WHO has always sought to "engage with the United States in good faith, with full respect for its sovereignty."

The accusation by the US administration that the WHO has "pursued a politicized, bureaucratic agenda dri...