The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) has called on global leaders to convince the United States to reverse its decision to withdraw from the UN health agency. The U.S. is the WHO's biggest donor, and its withdrawal would significantly impact the organization's ability to respond to global health emergencies.
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has urged global leaders to pressure the United States government to reverse its decision to withdraw from the UN health agency. In a confidential meeting with diplomats last week, Tedros emphasized that the U.S. withdrawal would result in a significant loss of crucial information regarding global disease outbreaks.
A German envoy, Bjorn Kummel, expressed the urgency of the situation, stating, 'The roof is on fire, and we need to stop the fire as soon as possible.'The U.S. is the WHO's largest contributor, providing an estimated $988 million, which represents approximately 14% of the organization's $6.9 billion budget. Internal documents revealed that WHO's health emergencies program heavily relies on American funding. For instance, readiness functions in WHO's Europe office depend on the $154 million contributed by the U.S. These documents further highlighted that U.S. funding forms the backbone of many of WHO's large-scale emergency operations, covering up to 40% of the costs. The withdrawal poses a risk to responses in regions such as the Middle East, Ukraine, and Sudan, and could jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars in polio-eradication and HIV programs.The U.S. also finances a significant portion of WHO's tuberculosis (TB) efforts globally. The documents indicated that the U.S. covers 95% of WHO's TB work in Europe and over 60% of TB efforts in Africa, the Western Pacific region, and at the agency's headquarters in Geneva. WHO's finance director, George Kyriacou, warned in a separate private meeting that if the organization continues to spend at its current rate, it will face severe cash flow challenges in the first half of 2026, potentially leading to a 'hand-to-mouth' situation. Despite attempts to retrieve past U.S. funds, most requests have been denied, and the U.S. is yet to settle its contributions for 2024, pushing WHO into a deficit. During the latest session of WHO's executive board, Tedros reiterated the agency's commitment to providing U.S. scientists with some data, although the specific information shared remains unclear. He urged member countries to engage with U.S. officials and persuade them to reconsider their withdrawal. Tedros challenged Trump's stated reasons for leaving WHO, which included mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic, a lack of transparency, and an overreliance on China. Tedros pointed out that WHO has implemented numerous reforms, including expanding its donor base, to address these concerns
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION US WITHDRAWAL GLOBAL HEALTH DISEASE OUTBREAKS FUNDING CRISIS
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