Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, WHO, has warned that global health is facing its worst crisis in recent history, as donor support dries up and severe budget cuts loom.
Ghebreyesus speaking on Thursday, admitted the agency is facing “the greatest disruption to global health financing in memory”;.
The crisis deepened after the United States, who used to be the WHO’s biggest funder, pulled out in January.
The US accused the health agency of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.
Before then, the US had covered nearly a fifth of the health agency’s budget.
In response, the WHO has revised its financial plans, with an internal memo spotted by Reuters showing a reduction from $5.3bn to $4.2bn as well as significant staff cuts.
“It is of course very painful,”; Tedros said, warning that slashing the budget will directly impact healthcare systems around the world, particularly in the most vulnerable countries.
The WHO is now set to make cuts across all levels of its operations, including its headquarters in Geneva and regional and country offices.
