GENEVA/LONDON: The World Well being Group will lower prices and evaluate which well being programmes to prioritise after the USA introduced its exit, its chief instructed workers in an inside memo seen by Reuters.
US President Donald Trump introduced the withdrawal on the primary day of his second time period on Monday (Jan 20), alleging that the worldwide well being company had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and different worldwide well being crises.
“This announcement has made our monetary scenario extra acute,” WHO Director-Basic Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in a memo to workers dated Jan 23. It stated that the company deliberate to considerably scale back journey expenditure and halt recruitment as a part of a sequence of cost-saving measures.
A WHO spokesperson confirmed the memo was genuine however declined to remark additional.
The United Nations confirmed on Thursday that the US was on account of withdraw from the WHO on Jan 22, 2026.
The US is by far the WHO’s greatest monetary backer, contributing round 18 per cent of its total funding. WHO’s most up-to-date two-year price range, for 2024-2025, was US$6.8 billion.
