US Withholds Funding, Threatens Exit, WHO Warns of Serious Repercussions

The head of WHO has issued a warning about the loss of vital information as countries consider the ramifications of the US leaving the organization.

The head of the World Health Organization, who insisted in a closed-door meeting with diplomats last week that the United States will lose out on vital information about global disease outbreaks, urged world leaders to rely on Washington to reverse President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the UN health agency.

According to an internal meeting, however, nations also questioned WHO on how it would handle the departure of its largest donor during a crucial budget meeting last Wednesday. “We need to put out the fire as soon as possible because the roof is on fire,” said Bjorn Kummel, a German diplomat.

By far the largest contributor to WHO for 2024–2025 is the United States, contributing an estimated $988 million, or almost 14% of WHO’s $6.9 billion budget.

According to a budget sheet that was provided during the conference, WHO’s health emergency program relies “heavily” on American funding.

Over 80% of the “readiness functions” at WHO’s Europe headquarters were dependent on the $154 million that the US provided.

According to the report, US money, which accounts for up to 40% of WHO’s large-scale emergency operations, “provides the backbone of many of them.” It stated that in addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars squandered by HIV and polio-eradication initiatives, reactions in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Sudan were in jeopardy.

According to the report, the United States also funds 95% of WHO’s TB activities in Europe and over 60% of TB initiatives in Africa, the Western Pacific, and at the organization’s Geneva headquarters.

During a separate private meeting last Wednesday to discuss the effects of the US leave, WHO finance director George Kyriacou stated that the agency will “be very much in a hand-to-mouth type of situation when it comes to our cash flows” in the first half of 2026 if it continues to spend at its present rate. The present rate of expenditure is “something we’re not going to do,” he continued.

The majority of WHO’s attempts to withdraw money from the US for previous costs “have not been accepted,” according to Kyriacou, after Trump’s executive order.

“The WHO is in a deficit because the United States has not yet paid its 2024 contributions,” he noted.

The most recent session of WHO’s executive board, which consists of 34 high-level envoys, including several state health ministers, was scheduled to begin Monday and end on February 11 and was anticipated to cover budgetary issues.

Last Monday, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff received orders to immediately cease their collaboration with WHO.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, informed the audience at the budget meeting that the organization continues to give US scientists certain data, albeit it is unclear what data they are referring to.

“We keep providing them with information because they require it,” Tedros stated, encouraging member nations to get in touch with US representatives. “If you could keep pressing and contacting them to change their mind, that would be greatly appreciated.”

Tedros refuted the three justifications Trump gave in the executive order he issued on January 20, his first day back in office. According to the president’s directive, WHO failed to implement necessary changes, bungled the COVID-19 outbreak that started in China, and demanded “unfairly onerous payments” from US members.

Tedros added that since warning the world about the coronavirus’s possible threats in January 2020, WHO has implemented dozens of measures, including initiatives to increase the number of donors.

Additionally, Tedros stated his opinion that the US withdrawal was “not about the money,” but rather the “void” in epidemic information and other vital health data that the US will eventually encounter.

“Restoring the United States will be crucial,” he informed the guests of the gathering. “And I think you can all contribute to that.”