The United States withdrawing from the World Health Organization would have a significant impact on public health programmes in Africa, the continent’s public health agency said Thursday.

Hours after taking office on Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the US to withdraw from the UN agency, which threatens to leave numerous global health initiatives short of funding.

Ngashi Ngongo, chief of staff at the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC), said it was a “decision of great importance to Africa”.

The US is “one of the main contributors to public health in Africa”, he told an online briefing.

While a US withdrawal would affect the agency’s member states “big time”, the Africa CDC itself does not “really expect that much impact”, Ngongo said.

READ ALSO: Withdrawal of U.S. from WHO could affect Nigeria’s health sector –stakeholders

The Africa CDC currently receives less than 10 percent of its funding from the US, he said.

He pointed out that many African countries have relied on funding from the US programme PEPFAR to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS.

When asked if China or other countries could step in to fill the gap in health funding, he said there would be no option but to “continue exploring other well-intentioned countries that can come to the rescue of African member states”.

The WHO and the African Union have both said they regretted the decision, calling on Trump’s administration to reconsider.