Member States Pledge Support for WHO But Urge Diplomatic Efforts to Woo Back USA World Health Organization 03/02/2025 • Kerry Cullinan Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses the opening of the WHO Executive Board’s 156 session, on Monday. World Health Organization (WHO) member states expressed unanimous public support for the body at its executive board (EB) meeting on Monday (3 February) following the United States’ decision to quit. But several countries also urged diplomatic efforts to woo the US back. US ally Israel noted that while the loss of US membership fees is a “huge problem”, the bigger problem is that “international bodies, companies, industry and academia” may “lose interest in this organisation”. “We must find the route to have a productive discussion with our American colleagues and see if there is a path to revise their decision and how to go and take the next steps,” said Israel’s Dr Asher Salmon. Senegal’s Health Minister, Dr. Ibrahima Sy, proposed “mobilising health diplomacy around the world to urge the US to change its decision”, urging the executive board to engage the US government, Congress and Senate to encourage that country to remain within the WHO. The US, which remains a WHO member for the next year as it serves out its notice, was represented at the EB by officials Michael Lim and Steve Smith, who did not speak. There was no sign of Tressa Rae Finerty, the new Chargé d’Affaires for the US mission in Geneva although her name was on a published WHO roster of EB participants. Biggest donors pledge support Aside from the US, the WHO’s biggest donors are (in order): The European Commission, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Canada then France, when both assessed and voluntary contributions are added up. All reiterated their support for WHO. WHO’s top 25 donors for 2024/25 Poland, speaking for the European Union (EU), reaffirmed its “strong commitment to WHO in these challenging times”, noting that “a common agenda is increasingly important in the face of growing health challenges and constrained financing”. However, it warned that the US withdrawal could impact on the organisation’s “predictable financing”, and called for “the cost implications of new actions must be assessed to ensure continuity of essential programmes”. Germany “emphasised our unwavering commitment to WHO as the cornerstone of global health governance and an indispensable pillar of multilateralism”. “As an advocate of multilateralism, we will continue to support the WHO financially, politically and technically. We call on all member states to join us in providing robust and sustainable financial support so that WHO is able to truly fulfil its mandate.” said Alicia Longthorne, a senior policy officer in Germany’s Ministry of Health. She urged the WHO to “prioritise the continuity of essential programmes”. Germany’s Alicia Longthorne addresses the EB The UK is “committed to supporting the organisation to deliver for today’s health challenges, and that is why we pledged £310 million in fully flexible funds at the WHO’s investment round in November …to support the delivery of WHO’s transformation efforts”. China, which could massively increase its paltry voluntary contributions to the WHO, confirmed its support for the WHO and multilateralism – but warned of the growing health access gap between developed and developing countries and called on WHO to improve its efficiency. China’s Mingzhu Li confirms his country’s support for multilateralism at the EB “Japan remains safe, steadfast in dedication to working closely with the WHO and member states,” it stated. “The world needs an effective, accountable, inclusive and well governed WHO and we are here with you to support these efforts,” said Canada’s Christine Harmston. “Indeed, the hard work over recent years to strengthen organisational integrity, transparency and accountability is recognised, and this must be maintained.” And “France will do its utmost to support the organisation, its teams and its Director-General”, stating: “WHO remains a normative benchmark for public health. That is a key role that it plays, and it’s something we must continue to defend We continue to support ambitious reform of funding for WHO which, as an organization must not be weakened, because if it was weakened, then the health of all is endangered.” Africa will be ‘most seriously affected’ Senegal’s Sy, on behalf of the Africa region’s 47 member states, expressed full solidarity with WHO on this current criris although “it is clear the African region is going to be most seriously affected” by the US withdrawal. “We urge that people show solidarity so that what will be an immense gap for the African region, can be plugged,” said Sy. Even Ethiopia, which opposed the re-election of Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, thanked him for his report. Ethiopian Health Minister Dr Mekdes Daba also called on “all member states to support the WHO investment round and honour a collective commitment of increasing accessed contributions”. Ethiopian Health Minister Dr Mekdes Daba, seated alongside US representative Dr Steve Smith Tedros highlights challenges and achievements The member states spoke after a detailed report from Tedros about the challenges and progress made by the WHO over the past year, beginning with his life being in danger during an attack on Yemen’s airport in late 2024. He outlined the significant health challenges and an impressive list of achievements of the global body – from eliminating tropical diseases to a new guideline on midwifery. Tedros was in Tanzania supporting the country in responding to a Marburg virus outbreak when US President Donald Trump announced his country’s withdrawal from WHO. “We regret the decision, and we hope the US will reconsider. We would welcome constructive dialogue to preserve and strengthen the historic relationship between WHO and the USA that helped bring significant impacts like the eradication of smallpox,” said Tedros, who also rebuffed Trump’s reasons for withdrawing. Responding to Trump’s Executive Orders Trump’s Executive Order gives four reasons for the US leaving the WHO. First, WHO’s “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms” – yet over the past seven years, WHO has implemented “the deepest and most wide-ranging reforms in the organization’s history”, said Tedros. Its transformation process “has touched every part of our work: our strategy, operating model, processes, partnerships, financing, workforce and culture”, and implemented 85 of the 97 reforms proposed in the Secretariat Implementation Plan on reform. Second, Trump said WHO “demands unfairly onerous payments from the US, out of proportion with what other countries contribute”. But member states “understand how assessed contributions are calculated” and “some countries choose to make higher voluntary contributions than others”, said Tedros. In the past budgetary period, the US voluntary contributions were higher than its assessed contributions. The US contribution to WHO in 2023 “Addressing the imbalance between assessed and voluntary contributions, and reducing WHO’s over-reliance on a handful of traditional donors, has been one of the major areas of our transformation,” Tedros noted. Third, the order refers to WHO’s alleged “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises”. “From the moment we picked up the first signals of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, we asked for more information, activated our emergency incident management system, alerted the world, convened global experts, and published comprehensive guidance for countries on how to protect their populations and health systems – all before the first death from this new disease was reported in China on the 11th of January 2020,” said Tedros. Multiple independent reviews of the global response to COVID-19 made more than 300 recommendations to address the challenges and weaknesses. “In response to those recommendations, WHO and our member states have taken many steps to strengthen global health security: the Pandemic Fund; the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence; the mRNA Technology Transfer Hub; the Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing; the Global Health Emergency Corps; the interim Medical Countermeasures Network, and more,” said Tedros. Trump’s final reason is WHO’s “inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence” from member states. “As a UN agency, WHO is impartial and exists to serve all countries and all people. Our member states ask us for many things, and we always try to help as much as we can. But when what they ask is not supported by scientific evidence, or is contrary to our mission to support global health, we say no, politely,” Tedros noted. Higher members’ fees, lower base budget Dr Jerome Walcott (right), health minister of Barbados, chairs the EB. The WHO’s Programme, Budget and Administrative Committee (PBAC) committee, which met before the EB, proposed that members’ assessed contributions be increased by 20%. This is in line with a 2023 World Health Assembly resolution that maps out that members’ fees should cover 50% of the WHO’s funding by 2030. Tedros described the increase as “a critical element of our long-term plan to broaden our donor base, and will over the long term reduce the burden of financing for traditional donors, including the US. “We therefore continue to seek the support and engagement of all member states, including the US, for our shared vision to put WHO on a more sustainable financial footing,” he told the EB. The Africa region, via Senegal, committed to the increased fees despite economic challenges. PBAC also proposed to decrease the base segment of the 2026–2027 budget to $4.9 billion rather than the $5,324 billion proposed before the US announcement – slightly less than the current budget for 2024/25 ($4.968 billion). In light of the funding crunch, the 34-member of the EB met informally on Sunday to discuss PBAC’s proposals. “There was a common understanding that WHO is in a difficult situation and that our consideration of the budget and on WHO reform, could not be business as usual. In response, WHO would pursue the twin goals of resource mobilisation and efficiency gains,” EB chair Dr Jerome Walcott, health minister of Barbados, told the start of the EB. As part of discussions on improved efficiency, delegates noted that having too many resolutions – 23 are being prepared for the World Health Assembly in May – dissipated the focus of the WHA. The EB also discussed the process to be followed if member states had complaints about the Director-General. Image Credits: https://open.who.int/2024-25/contributors/top25. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Combat the infodemic in health information and support health policy reporting from the global South. Our growing network of journalists in Africa, Asia, Geneva and New York connect the dots between regional realities and the big global debates, with evidence-based, open access news and analysis. To make a personal or organisational contribution click here on PayPal.