Wazzup Pilipinas!?
As the world watches with rising concern, the World Health Organization (WHO)—the global guardian of public health—is grappling with a storm unlike any in its modern history: a staggering US$500 million salary gap, crumbling health systems in over 70 member countries, and a looming crisis of trust in international aid.
This financial chasm casts a long shadow over the 78th World Health Assembly now underway in Geneva, Switzerland—a summit once filled with hope, now marked by anxiety and urgency. In a dramatic opening on Monday, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sounded the alarm over the devastating consequences of reduced donor support, especially from traditional backers like the United States and its Overseas Development Agency (ODA).
“We are doing our best to support countries to make that transition. And yet, at precisely the time that Member States need a strong WHO, it is being challenged,” Dr. Tedros declared before a packed assembly of world leaders, health experts, and stakeholders.
Collapse in Care: The Domino Effect of Defunding
The figures are chilling: closed health facilities, jobless health workers, and soaring out-of-pocket expenses in dozens of developing nations—including Zambia—where access to essential medicines, vaccines, and primary healthcare has now become a privilege, not a right.
For decades, countries dependent on donor funding from the Global North relied on WHO’s support for their most fundamental health infrastructure. But now, those pipelines are drying up—and with them, the very lifelines of millions.
WHO’s own operational stability is cracking. With an estimated US$500 million shortfall in salary funding, the organization is being forced to shrink its workforce, even at its Geneva headquarters. Departments have been slashed from 76 to 34, and the executive management team cut to just seven members. Beloved and long-serving officials like Dr. Mike Ryan, Dr. Bruce Aylward, and Dr. Samira Asma are expected to part ways in this painful transition.
The human toll of these reductions cannot be overstated. These are not just bureaucrats—they are the architects of emergency response strategies, vaccine deployment logistics, and disease eradication campaigns. With their departure, institutional memory and vital global health expertise are being lost at a critical moment in history.
A Wake-Up Call to the World: Dependency No More
The Assembly’s theme—“One World for Health”—now rings with a tragic irony. Once envisioned as a rallying cry for unity, it now sounds like a plea to salvage what remains of multilateralism in health.
Dr. Tedros admitted that while WHO’s “Transformation” plan was initiated eight years ago, its over-reliance on earmarked voluntary funding left the agency vulnerable. Though the establishment of the WHO Foundation and efforts to progressively increase assessed contributions to 50% of the base budget were steps in the right direction, they came too late—and progress was too slow.
“If it had not happened, our current financial situation would be much worse—US$300 million worse,” Dr. Tedros said. Still, WHO’s biennium budget for 2026–2027 has been cut by 21%, from a proposed US$5.3 billion to US$4.2 billion. More than US$1.7 billion in funding remains unfunded, even with US$2.6 billion already secured.
“We have to prepare for the worst,” he warned solemnly.
Redefining WHO’s Role: From Global to Local Impact
Yet, amid the chaos, WHO is not giving up. Instead, it is repositioning itself to become leaner, more focused, and laser-locked on delivering value at the country level. The organization is now calling for predictable, sustainable financing—not just one-time aid—to fulfill its Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW 14) and align with the 2025-2028 global health strategy.
The Investment Round, a major fundraising event scheduled during the Assembly, will be a make-or-break moment. Here, WHO hopes to secure pledges not only from governments but also from philanthropic donors, private institutions, and strategic partners.
The stakes are clear: either WHO secures the support it needs to remain a functional global health leader—or the world risks unraveling decades of progress against disease, pandemics, and preventable deaths.
The Crossroads of Humanity: A Final Appeal
For WHO, this is more than just a financial reckoning. It is a redefinition of global solidarity in an increasingly fragmented world. The failure of traditional donors to maintain support has exposed uncomfortable truths about dependency, sustainability, and the fragility of multilateral institutions.
Dr. Tedros’s message to the world was clear: innovation, self-reliance, and resilient health systems must now emerge from within. The age of aid as a crutch must give way to a future where every nation invests in its own health security—not as an option, but as a matter of survival.
But until that future is fully realized, the world cannot afford to let WHO fall.
As the Assembly continues through May 27, 2025, the outcome of its deliberations—and the generosity of its stakeholders—may well determine whether the agency can weather this storm, or whether millions will be left to navigate future health emergencies alone.
Now more than ever, the world must rally not only for WHO—but for the people who depend on it.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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