The German government is set to halve its funding for the Berlin-based WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence this year as part of a broader retreat from global health and aid financing under Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Funding for the pandemic surveillance hub will be reduced from €30 million yearly to €15 million, with only one year of funds committed, according to research conducted by Health Policy Watch.

The cuts represent a major setback for the global data ecosystem required to detect future health threats, as the pandemic surveillance hub is the world’s premier “radar system” for emerging pathogens.

“The proposed cuts to the WHO Pandemic Surveillance Hub in Berlin send the wrong signal at the wrong time,” Ralph Achenbach, executive director at Amref Health Africa Deutschland, the German representative of Africa’s leading health NGO, told Health Policy Watch. “Viruses know no borders, and neither should our investments in global health security,” he emphasised.

The WHO Pandemic Surveillance Hub was launched as a flagship project in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The mission of the Berlin-based hub is to provide decision-makers with real-time insights to stop outbreaks of infectious diseases before they escalate into pandemics.

Cuts will hit Global South collaborations

The cuts’ initial effects are already becoming apparent. “While we don’t foresee cutting staff positions in the short term, we have cut back on certain activities,” said Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Preparedness and Response Programme, in response to a query by Health Policy Watch.

“With global health financing under pressure, sustaining our work is crucial,” added Ihekweazu, who led the hub at its inception.

Among these cutbacks are projects with the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s central federal institution for public health, and the Charité in Berlin, one of Europe’s largest university hospitals. They were intended to be the scientific pillars of the hub’s Berlin ecosystem, providing technical expertise for genomic surveillance and disease modelling.

“Charité regrets the planned cuts to the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence and does not rule out that these will affect joint research projects,” a spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Health Policy Watch. Research into the development and validation of rapid tests for pandemic pathogens and the modelling expertise of the Charité Centre for Global Health could be negatively impacted, the spokesperson pointed out.

Project expansions have been halted, and the number of fellowships supported by the hub for researchers from lower and middle-income countries will be reduced, according to the WHO.

“By weakening ties with experts from the Global South, Germany undermines exactly the kind of global collaboration that effective pandemic preparedness depends on,” Achenbach lamented.

Future of global epidemic AI-monitoring tool uncertain

The reduction comes at a critical juncture: only in October 2025, the pandemic surveillance hub celebrated the launch of an AI-powered upgrade to its Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources system (EIOS) that now supports over 150 countries worldwide. EIOS 2.0 functions like a global digital radar system for health that constantly scans the internet, listening to “chatter” from social media, news, and even regional radio waves to detect the first signs of public health threats.

Despite the cuts, WHO is confident that the project will continue to be rolled out as it is supported by “a number of financial and technical partners”, including the European Commission.

However, “under the current funding constraints, EIOS can only operate at a minimal viable level in 2026”, WHO’s Ihekweazu said.

The hub’s Health Security Partnership to support disease surveillance in Africa (HSPA) is not affected due to financing from Canada, supplemented by the United Kingdom. HSPA is part of a broader “collaborative intelligence” ecosystem and aims to provide African WHO Member States with data analytics and tools to identify the earliest signals of an outbreak.

In a statement to Health Policy Watch, the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) maintains that the WHO pandemic surveillance hub in Berlin remains a strategic priority despite the cuts, and expressed confidence that the hub will remain “fully functional” and continue to serve as a centre for “co-creation” within the planned 2026 budget.

According to the Ministry, the flagship project has been working to diversify its financial base by engaging other member states and philanthropic organisations.

Pivot from international health to defence

The financial overhaul at the pandemic surveillance hub is part of a broader shift in German priorities under Merz towards defence, as well as national innovation and infrastructure spending.

“This reflects the prioritisation of military budgets over social programmes, which also include health programmes,” Felix Litschauer, Global Health Advocate at the NGO Medico International, said in an interview with Health Policy Watch.

The Health Ministry’s overall budget for “International Health” (chapter 1505) is set to decrease from €132.35 million in 2025 to €114.89 million in 2026, a drop of 13.2%, continuing the downward trend since 2024 and falling below the pre-pandemic levels of 2020.

Additionally, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is pulling back: the budget for international cooperation and development (chapters 2301 and 2303) for 2026 will fall by 5% to around €6.42 billion, from €6.76 billion in 2025. Funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria is set to be reduced by €82 million to €288 million.

The cuts will most severely impact the economically precarious and marginalised groups in the Global South, Medico Health Advocate Litschauer argues. “By cutting these programs, the German government is evading its international responsibility,” he criticises, asserting that its economic model “profits from the poverty in the Global South.”

‘Weakening health security increases risks of future crises’

From a macroeconomic perspective, the planned cuts at the WHO hub in Berlin may seem marginal, as saving €15 million looks more like a rounding error in a multibillion-euro wallet. The entire “International Health” budget represents a mere 0.02% of the total German federal budget.

Yet, the risks are exponential. It weakens the very system designed to protect society and the economy from a repeat of the COVID-19 shock.

“Germany scores an own goal by saving relatively small amounts at the expense of global and national health security,” Amref Germany’s executive director Achenbach warns. “These investments are not charity; they are essential to global equity and stability.”

Health financing worldwide under pressure

The timing of Germany’s retreat is particularly perilous. In a recent statement, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros warned that the world is facing “steep cuts in development assistance” that are causing “severe disruptions to health services.”

The withdrawal of major donor countries like the United States initially left the WHO facing a $1.7 billion shortfall for the upcoming 2026-27 budget period. The deficit has recently been narrowed to approximately $1.05 billion following a significant reduction in the organisation’s global workforce.

The German government’s cuts to the WHO pandemic surveillance hub reflect “a global trend towards cutting funding in the global health sector and, in particular, jeopardise preparations for the next pandemic, which will come sooner or later,” warns Axel R. Pries, president of the World Health Summit, a subsidiary of Charité.

“Investments in pandemic prevention and preparedness pay off in the long term for Germany and the world, as they strengthen the resilience of society, the economy, and stability.”

Is Germany relinquishing its leading global health efforts?

With its “whole-of-government investment” strategy, Germany ranked as the second-largest donor-country to the WHO by funnelling funds through various ministries and government agencies to global health initiatives.

“Germany has been, and remains, a strong supporter of WHO and the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence,” WHO’s Emergency Response Programme Director Ihekweazu emphasised.

However, there is serious concern among global health experts that Germany might be relinquishing its leading role championing global health initiatives. “Such cuts weaken Germany’s position in important multilateral and UN organisations, including the WHO,” explained Pries.

While Germany’s push to increase mandatory countries’ “assessed contributions” (membership fees) to the WHO, which remain stable at €37.1 million in this year’s Federal budget, is considered positive, these efforts don’t solve the WHO’s underlying dependency on voluntary contributions, critics argue.

“The World Health Organization remains dependent upon donors who use their resources to push for their health priorities,” Medico Health Advocate Litschauer clarifies.

Voluntary funds are often channelled into high-profile initiatives at the expense of strengthening general health systems, he criticises, calling for a fundamental reform of WHO financing to sustain flagship initiatives like the pandemic surveillance hub in Berlin.

Image Credits: WHO/Christopher Black, WHO/Christopher Black, WHO/Christopher Black , Felix Sassmannshausen, Amref Health Africa Deutschland, World Health Summit, WHO/Marcio Schimming.