Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus is urging health officials from various countries to encourage the United States to reconsider President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the U.N. health agency.
The withdrawal of the United States, per reports has left a rather daunting task on the World Health Organization (WHO), which is evidently backed by concerns raised in a recently held budget meeting which by member states of the international health body.
According to reports, the 2024-2025 period, the United States stands as WHO’s predominant contributor, providing an estimated $988 million, which constitutes approximately 14% of the organization’s total budget of $6.9 billion.
In a post made by the WHO on X, it was indicated that the withdrawal issued by executive order by President Donald Trump increased burdens on account of an existing ‘shortfall’ due to economic challenges of many countries. The move of the former top financer of WHO’s tuberculosis programs in Europe and Africa, “has made the situation more acute.” says Gheybreysus.
“The money hit will be very substantial. And if the world doesn’t step up and address the money gap that is coming, then the World Health Organisation will be very very badly damaged,” special adviser to the Executive Director for Policy, Advocacy and Knowledge at UNAIDS, Mathew Kavanagh present at the sitting said.
