Stripped of US funding, the World Health Organization chief on Monday appealed to member countries to support its “extremely modest” request for a $2.1 billion annual budget, reports the AP.
“$2.1 billion is the equivalent of global military expenditure every eight hours,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
It seems somebody switched the price tags on what is truly valuable in our world.”
“For an organization working on the ground in 150 countries with a vast mission and mandate … $2.1 billion a year—is not ambitious.
Literally millions will likely die needlessly … and the world’s health ministers do not seem capable of a coherent response.”
After losing US funding, the head of the World Health Organization urged member nations to back its “extremely modest” request for an annual budget of $2.11 billion on Monday, according to the AP. Following President Trump’s decision in January to stop funding from the United States, which has historically been WHO’s largest donor, the UN health agency is fighting for its own after nearly 80 years of working to improve human lives and health—something critics claim it has done poorly or not enough. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, stated that each eight hours, $21 billion is the equivalent of global military spending. People are killed by a single stealth bomber. dots. What is actually valuable in our world appears to have had its price tags switched. “..”.
With commitments for roughly 60% of that, WHO has presented a budget for the next two years that is 22% lower than what was initially anticipated. It still has a $1.07 billion budget deficit, though. For a company with a broad mission and mandate that operates in 150 countries. $21 billion annually is not a lofty goal. “It’s very modest,” Tedros remarked. This year, the WHO’s capacity to fulfill its broad mandate—which includes everything from recommending soft drink sugar reductions to leading the international response to pandemics like COVID-19 or outbreaks like polio or Ebola—has drastically declined.
Tedros and his team have been juggling less spending from wealthy European nations that are concerned about an expansionist Russia and are increasing their defense budgets, as well as a reaction to the US cuts. Other nations have used the US aid cut “as cover to do their maneuvering, with many countries in Europe reducing aid,” according to Matthew Kavanagh, director of Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics. Millions of people will probably perish needlessly. and it appears that the world’s health ministers are unable to provide a cogent answer. “..”.
The rest of the story is below.
To support WHO finances and lessen reliance on governments’ voluntary contributions, member nations are expected to increase annual dues by 20%. They are also anticipated to accept a laborious “pandemic treaty” that aims to prevent the next pandemic from repeating the uneven, patchy response to COVID-19.
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