President Donald Trump has taken decisive action by withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) on the inaugural day of his second term.
This move has prompted the Geneva-based United Nations subsidiary to embark on a comprehensive restructuring and refinancing initiative. The Trump administration's decision comes in the wake of accusations that the W.H.O. mishandled the Chinese coronavirus pandemic and other global health emergencies.
According to Breitbart, Trump, upon signing the executive order, highlighted the financial disparity between the U.S. and China in their contributions to the W.H.O. "That's a big one," Trump remarked. "So, we paid $500 million to [the] World Health Organization when I was here, and I terminated it. China, with 1.4 billion people, we have 350 nobody knows what we have because so many people came in illegally. But, let's say we have 325, they have 1.4 billion, they were paying $39 million, we were paying $500 million. Seemed a little unfair to me, so that wasnt the reason, but I dropped out." This financial imbalance underscores the broader issue of disproportionate U.S. contributions to international organizations.
The United States has long been the largest financial supporter of the W.H.O., contributing a significant 18 percent of its total funding. However, the recent U.S. withdrawal has intensified the agency's financial challenges. A memo from the W.H.O., dated March 28 and signed by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, revealed that the U.S. exit, coupled with reduced development assistance from other nations, has exacerbated the funding crisis. As reported by Reuters, the memo stated, "The United States announcement, combined with recent reductions in official development assistance by some countries to fund increased defence spending, has made our situation much more acute."
Facing a substantial income shortfall of nearly $600 million this year, the W.H.O. has proposed a 21 percent reduction in its budget for 2026-27, scaling it down from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion. Initially, in February, the executive board had already trimmed the proposed budget to $4.9 billion. The memo further indicated that, "Despite our best efforts, we are now at the point where we have no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce." This reduction will impact senior leadership positions at the W.H.O.'s headquarters in Switzerland, as well as other levels and regions.
As the W.H.O. grapples with these financial constraints, it plans to determine how to prioritize its work and allocate resources by the end of April. This development raises questions about the future of global health initiatives and the role of international cooperation in addressing health crises.
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