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WHO Budget Impact (2025-2026)
Visualizing the financial reduction impact on the WHO
Primary Sources
WHO members meet as hantavirus, Ebola outbreaks raise alarm
Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) gather in Geneva on Monday for their annual meeting amid growing concerns over deadly hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks, as well as uncertainty surrounding announced withdrawal plans by the U.S. and Argentina. Although the rare hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship is not officially included on the agenda, it is expected to dominate discussions alongside the newly reported Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A diplomatic source, who asked not to be identified, said it would be interesting to see how such outbreaks are used by WHO "to promote other things", including "to pressure (the U.S. and Argentina) not to go". The meeting of the WHO's annual decision-making assembly, which runs through Saturday, comes after a difficult year for the organisation. It has been weakened by the announced U.S. withdrawal and by funding cuts that have forced it to slash its budget and staff numbers. "We are stable now and moving forward," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted at the end of April. The situation is "still fragile, but they've been successful in mobilising most of the funds" required for the next two years, Surie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). And the hantavirus crisis provided "a clear illustration of why the world needs an effective, trusted, impartial, reliably-funded WHO", she added. Significant divisions persist, with continued disagreements between wealthy and developing nations blocking progress on the final unresolved element of the WHO’s landmark 2025 pandemic treaty and likely forcing negotiations to extend for another year. It also remains unclear what, if anything, would be decided on the U.S. and Argentinian announced withdrawals. U.S. President Donald Trump, on his first day back in office in January 2025, handed the WHO his country's one-year withdrawal notice, with Argentina soon following suit. The WHO, whose constitution does not include a withdrawal clause, has not confirmed either withdrawal. The U.S. reserved the right to withdraw when it joined the WHO in 1948, on condition of giving one year's notice and meeting its financial obligations in full for that fiscal year. While the notice period has expired, Washington has still not paid its 2024 or 2025 dues, owing around $260 million. When WHO's executive board met in January, Israel submitted a resolution to approv...
WHO Kicks Off Annual Assembly Amid Hantavirus, Ebola Crises
The World Health Organization opened a meeting of global health ministers Monday amid concern over deadly hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks and uncertainty over announced US and Argentinian withdrawals. While the rare hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship that has gripped global attention is not officially on the agenda, it is expected to feature prominently in discussions, alongside the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The two outbreaks “are just the latest crises in our troubled world”, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the opening of the UN agency’s annual decision-making World Health Assembly. READ ALSO: Nigeria Tightens Surveillance, WHO Declares Emergency As Ebola Kills 88 In Congo World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivers a speech at the opening of the 79th World Health Organization (WHO) assembly in Geneva, on May 18, 2026. Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP “From conflicts to economic crises to climate change and aid cuts, we live in difficult, dangerous, and divisive times.” United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said the global health challenges “have rarely felt more daunting”. “Over the past year, cuts to bilateral and multilateral aid have disrupted health systems and widened inequalities,” Guterres said in a video address to the assembly. The meeting, which runs through Saturday, comes after a difficult year for an organisation weakened by the announced US withdrawal and deep funding cuts. A medical worker puts on her Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) ahead of entering an Ebola Treatment Centre run by The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) on August 12, 2018, in Beni. “The WHO’s budget has been reduced by around 21 percent, or nearly one billion dollars. Hundreds of jobs have been eliminated, programs have been reduced,” Swiss Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider noted in her address. “The WHO had to, and was able to, undergo profound reform in the midst of the emergency.” Surie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, also suggested WHO had weathered the storm, telling AFP that while “the situation is “still fragile, … they’ve been successful in mobilising most of the funds” required for the next two years. And the hantavirus crisis provided “a clear illustration of why the world needs an effective, trusted, impartial, reliably-funded WHO”, she added. US, Argentina withdrawals US President Donald Trump (Pho...
Ebola and hantavirus have Africa talking 'health sovereignty' as donor ...
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A new and deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda is the latest health emergency forcing African governments to break free of dependency on global donors like the ...
WHO annual assembly opens amid hantavirus fears, Ebola outbreak and US ...
World Health Organization member states meet in Geneva this week amid global concern over hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks, uncertainty surrounding announced US and Argentinian withdrawals, and growing pressure on the UN health agency over funding cuts, pandemic preparedness, and the future of global health coordination.
