Global health funding is experiencing its most severe disruption in history, as donor nations cut down their financial support, the World Health Organization’s director said on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew from the WHO upon taking office in January, saying the health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises. The U.S. is by far the U.N. health agency’s biggest financial backer, contributing around 18% of its overall funding.
“We are living through the greatest disruption to global health financing in memory,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at WHO headquarters in Geneva.
The WHO revised downwards its budget after the U.S.’s withdrawal exacerbated a funding crisis due to member states reducing their development spending.
WHO Budget Slash
Faced with an income gap of nearly $600 million this year, the WHO has proposed slashing its budget for 2026-27 by 21% from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion, and reducing staff numbers, according to an internal memo revealed in March.
“It is of course very painful,” the director added, warning that the cuts would have significant impact on the health of people around the world.
The WHO says it is looking at making savings at the regional, headquarter and country level.
It will reduce jobs at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as closing some country offices in higher and upper income countries, said Tedros.
A quarter of the WHO’s salary costs are not met for the next two years, said WHO’s Assistant Director-General of Business Operations, Raul Thomas. He said it is not yet possible to say how many staff will be cut as it will depend on the grade and location of people identified in its cost-saving measures.
Tedros also said the WHO wants to move towards broadening its donor base, acknowledging it faced a structural problem whereby it is over-reliant on voluntary contributions – which account for 80% of the WHO’s total budget – coming from a few donors.
(With inputs from Reuters)
