Farage's anti-WHO campaign relocates to US with American lobbyists
Nigel Farage has moved his campaign to dismantle the World Health Organization to the US and recruited American lobbyists, raising transparency concerns over a British MP leading a US-funded push against global health regulations.
Action on World Health, the pressure group co-founded by Farage, has relocated to Delaware as a charitable foundation and grassroots non-profit. The group campaigns for the WHO's replacement, arguing the UN health body is too close to China, compromised by private funding, and "far left". As part of the relaunch, it has added American political strategist Gerry Gunster and longtime Farage ally Andy Wigmore to its board.
The move across the Atlantic is paired with a shift in fundraising, with the campaign now explicitly soliciting donations via US payment cards and bank accounts. It follows Farage making at least 10 trips to the US since becoming a member of parliament in July 2024. The timing aligns with the Trump administration's withdrawal of the US from the WHO, which coordinates global responses to pandemics and other health threats.
For European businesses and regulators, the campaign represents a direct transatlantic conduit for anti-regulatory pressure. Action on World Health wants to strip the WHO of its authority over member states. The group's manifesto explicitly opposes what it calls "excessive regulation" on products like vaping, stating: “Adults should be treated like adults, instead of the WHO bullying countries into treating its citizens like children through excessive regulations on food, alcohol, fizzy drinks, and vaping products that are 95% less harmful than smoking.”
This deregulatory push is complicated by the group's industry links. Co-founder David Roach previously provided secretariat services to the Global Initiative on Novel Nicotine and lobbied for vaping company ANDS. While Roach has denied that nicotine companies fund the campaign, Action on World Health keeps its donor list secret, citing confidentiality. Other board members include Amanda Moslé Friedman, a US businesswoman at nuclear technology firm IP3, and Greg Swenson, the chair of Republicans Overseas UK.
The structural changes also expose ongoing gaps in British parliamentary transparency rules. Farage’s unpaid role as honorary chair was only belatedly declared to the MPs’ register of interests last year. Notably, the campaign’s website allows users globally to email their politicians to oppose the WHO, but does not include an option for British citizens to contact their own representatives.
The WHO has previously accused the group of spreading misinformation about its international pandemic preparedness treaty. A spokesperson for Spotlight on Corruption said: “This shows how urgently stricter rules on MPs’ second jobs and side hustles are needed. It is disappointing that there has been so little progress on this so far despite this being a major manifesto commitment.” Action on World Health, Reform and Roach did not respond to requests for comment on the group’s relocation.
