Kathmandu. The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to face a budget shortfall this year and through 2027 after the US withdrew its funding despite dramatically cutting its budget, a media report said on Wednesday.
The UN health agency has slashed its two-year budget for 2026/27 from $5.3 billion to $4.20 billion as it prepares to withdraw all US troops in January. But despite the dramatic reduction, the budget is still $1.9 billion short, the WHO’s Health Policy Watch said on Wednesday.
The publisher said the figures were provided to staff during a town hall meeting on Tuesday. The agency said the shortfall for this year’s budget was more than $6 million. The WHO, which is grappling with the exodus of its largest donor in history, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the AFP report.
President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from the WHO in January after returning to the White House and decided to freeze almost all US foreign aid, including major support for global health projects.
The United States provided the WHO with $1.3 billion in the 2022-23 budget period, mainly through voluntary contributions for specific projects rather than fixed membership fees. Washington has not yet paid its 2024 dues and is not expected to honor its membership obligations for 2025. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the US owes $260 million in membership fees for 2024-2025 alone.
Only on Friday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told staff that this year’s budget was $600 million short. In a message obtained by AFP, he warned that the agency had “no choice” but to start making cuts. “The dramatic cuts in official development assistance by the United States and other countries have caused significant disruption to countries, NGOs and UN agencies, including the World Health Organization,” Tedros said in an email.
He said the organization was facing financial constraints even before Trump began the year-long process of withdrawing from the WHO. “Despite our best efforts, we are now at a point where we have no choice but to reduce our work and the size of our workforce,” Tedros said. “The cuts will start at headquarters, start with major contributing countries, but they will affect all levels and sectors,” he told staff.
Last month, Tedros urged Washington to reconsider cuts to global health funding, warning that the sudden halt in aid was putting millions of lives at risk. He said disruptions to global HIV programmes alone could lead to “more than 10 million new HIV infections and 3 million HIV-related deaths.” .
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