As federal engagement with global public health institutions continues to contract, Washington state is moving in the opposite direction. Governor Bob Ferguson announced on April 1, 2026, that Washington has formally joined the World Health Organization’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), connecting the state directly to an international disease surveillance and response partnership that spans more than 360 institutions worldwide.
The move is an explicit response to President Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the WHO, which severed the country’s formal ties to one of the primary global mechanisms for detecting and responding to emerging infectious disease threats. Washington now joins California, Illinois, Colorado, and New York City as U.S. jurisdictions that have independently sought GOARN membership to maintain access to international outbreak intelligence.
What Is GOARN?
GOARN is a coordinated global partnership operated under the WHO umbrella, comprising national governments, public health agencies, academic institutions, laboratories, and response organizations. Its core function is the rapid identification and coordinated response to public health emergencies anywhere in the world. For member organizations, GOARN provides early-warning outbreak alerts, technical collaboration during major health events, international training and exercises, and coordinated surge response support.
For U.S. states, which do not typically engage directly with WHO as sovereign members, joining GOARN as institutional partners represents an unconventional but available pathway to international public health connectivity — one that several states are now actively pursuing in the absence of federal engagement.
“Washington will not stand idle as the federal government retreats from global public health, undermines science and threatens the wellbeing of our communities. We stand with our local and global partners to prioritize the health of our people over politics.” – WA State Gov. Bob Ferguson
Washington’s Rationale
Washington State Secretary of Health Dennis Worsham framed the decision in direct terms. “Disease outbreaks don’t stop at state or national borders, and our ability to protect people in Washington shouldn’t either,” he said. “Joining GOARN ensures we maintain access to critical global outbreak intelligence and stay connected to leading public health experts, even as federal relationships change.”
Worsham pointed to recent and ongoing threats as justification for maintaining robust international ties, citing COVID-19, rising measles cases, and avian influenza as examples of how rapidly infectious diseases can spread across jurisdictions. “We’re not waiting for the next threat — we’re preparing for it,” he said.
A Broader Pattern of State-Level Action
The GOARN announcement is part of a broader effort by the Ferguson administration to insulate Washington’s public health infrastructure from shifting federal priorities. During the 2026 legislative session, Ferguson signed legislation shifting vaccine recommendation authority away from the federal government, allowing the state Department of Health to issue guidance based on its own medical and scientific review.
Ferguson has also joined two multistate public health coalitions: the Governors Public Health Alliance, a nonpartisan coordination initiative, and the West Coast Health Alliance — a partnership with California, Oregon, and Hawaii that has issued coordinated health guidelines and evidence-based immunization recommendations independent of federal direction.
Failure of Federal Leadership
The U.S. withdrawal from WHO created a significant gap in the country’s connection to global disease surveillance infrastructure at a moment when several active threats — including ongoing avian influenza transmission and measles resurgence — demand precisely the kind of early-warning intelligence GOARN provides. States cannot replicate the federal government’s diplomatic reach or its formal WHO membership status, but GOARN’s institutional membership model offers a practical, if partial, workaround.
The growing number of U.S. jurisdictions pursuing direct GOARN membership signals a structural shift in how subnational governments are approaching global health security when federal leadership fails.
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Washington joins the World Health Organization’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network – Governor Bob Ferguson