The World Health Organisation has been forced to slash its staff after the US and Argentina decided to pull funding, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday, characterising 2025 as “one of our most difficult years.”
The Geneva-based organisation lost its top donor with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual funding when the US completed its withdrawal last month. Argentina has also announced its intention to withdraw from the WHO, with the exit expected to take effect in February.
The cuts are already having a severe impact in countries where the WHO supports public health systems, including vaccination programs and outbreak response, Tedros said. He warned that the strain is coming as the world braces for a projected shortage of 11 million health workers by 2030.
The WHO is shedding about 25 percent of its workforce by mid-2026, according to a recent report by the body. The organisation had 9,457 employees at the end of 2024, its highest headcount in 15 years.
Still, Tedros struck a more positive note for the year ahead, saying the WHO would be focused on recovery rather than belt-tightening.
“2026 will not be about austerity but restore,” he said, adding that “the people of this organisation continue to serve the world” despite the funding shock and deep staffing cuts.
The WHO’s executive board is holding its 158th session this week, with governments reviewing priorities that range from health emergencies and antimicrobial resistance to budgets, governance and digital health. Over six days, diplomats will spar over politically sensitive issues and set the agenda for bigger decisions later this year.
Those early signals will feed into May’s World Health Assembly, where countries must decide how much money and authority to give the WHO as it responds to crises and reshapes its role. Whether this week produces momentum or gridlock will help determine if those talks end in compromise or confrontation.
by Fabienne Kinzelmann, Bloomberg
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