WHO announces sweeping cuts ahead of US exit – media

Washington will quit the UN public health agency within a year, in line with President Donald Trump’s executive order

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a raft of cuts in response to the planned withdrawal of the US, its biggest contributor, Reuters and Politico have reported, citing an internal memo.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday, declaring that the US would leave the UN global public health agency within 12 months.

“This announcement has made our financial situation more acute, and we know it has created significant concern and uncertainty for the WHO workforce,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told staff in an email sent on Thursday, as quoted by Politico.

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The WHO, as a coordinating authority on international health issues, relies on funding from dues-paying member states and on voluntary contributions. Washington is by far the WHO's biggest financial backer, accounting for 18% of its overall funding. The WHO's most recent two-year budget, for 2024-2025, stood at $6.8 billion.

To mitigate the financial strain, the WHO is “freezing recruitment, except in the most critical areas” and “significantly reducing travel expenditure,” according to the document. All meetings are now mandated to be fully virtual unless in exceptional circumstances, and missions to countries are to be “limited to the most essential.” 

Additional measures include limiting the replacement of IT equipment, renegotiating major contracts, and suspending office refurbishments and capital investments, unless necessary for security or cost-cutting purposes.

According to Reuters, a WHO spokesperson confirmed that the memo was authentic, but declined to comment further.

Trump’s order on Monday stated that Washington was withdrawing due to the WHO’s “mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic,” its “failure” to reform, and the disproportional payments imposed on the US.

Some public health experts have described Trump’s decision as a “mistake” that would put the nation at a disadvantage and make Americans “less safe.” 

Trump took steps to exit the WHO in 2020, accusing it of assisting China in efforts to “mislead the world” about the origins of Covid-19. As withdrawal requires a one-year notice period, the process was reversed by his successor Joe Biden on his own inauguration day.

The US has been a member of the WHO since its inception in 1948, and the withdrawal would make the country the only major power absent from the 194-member organization.

The internal letter said the Geneva-based body had already started work to reform and change how it is funded, Reuters noted. Member states have started increasing their mandatory fees and contributing to the current investment round, it added.

READ MORE: African Union comments on US exit from WHO

The news agency quoted the memo as saying that the set of the cost-saving measures was not comprehensive, and “more will be announced in due course.”