Today's Edition
GENEVA (DPA)
The World Health Organization (WHO) is facing a shortfall of $1.7 billion over the next two years, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva on Monday.
The WHO's financial crisis was prompted by the withdrawal of the US and Argentina from the UN organisation, which was founded in 1948.
The US contributed around 20% of the WHO's expenditure. The WHO has already cut its planned two-year budget for 2026-27 by around 20% to $2.1 billion per year.
Tedros said that figure was not nearly enough, and was equivalent to what is spent on military equipment worldwide every eight hours.
The WHO is reducing its top management body from 14 to seven positions and the number of departments from 76 to 34, Tedros said.
Among those leaving is Mike Ryan, the emergency response coordinator who became known during the coronavirus pandemic for his public briefings.
The number of employees worldwide is to be reduced by 20% from around 9,500.
The US actually still owes the WHO around $130 million dollars for 2025, though it is considered unlikely that the money will be paid.
The US withdrawal from the WHO will take effect at the beginning of 2026.
Tedros spoke on the first day of the WHO's annual assembly of members in Geneva.
