WHO warns of global health financing emergency with aid down 30%, urging countries to boost self-reliance amid severe service disruptions
GENEVA: The World Health Organization has declared a global health financing emergency requiring urgent coordinated action.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced this crisis during a meeting with African Union member states in Geneva.
He revealed that external health aid is projected to drop by more than 30% in 2025 compared to 2023 levels.
This sharp decline follows heavy foreign aid cuts by the United States under President Donald Trump.
Other major international donors have also been tightening their belts amid global economic pressures.
The funding collapse has caused dramatic disruptions to essential health services worldwide.
Data from March shows immediate health service disruptions in approximately 70% of low and middle income countries.
Tedros reported that one third of countries now face critical shortages of essential medicines.
Health programmes across many nations are experiencing widespread disruption due to funding cuts.
The WHO chief noted that health financing was already off track even before these sudden reductions.
He highlighted how debt soared during the Covid-19 pandemic, worsening longstanding public underfunding.
Tedros framed the current crisis as an opportunity to move beyond aid dependency.
He advocated for a new era built on sovereignty, self-reliance and solidarity instead.
Global Fund head Peter Sands echoed this call for accelerated progress toward self-reliance.
The WHO has launched new guidance to help countries counter both immediate and long-term effects.
This guidance urges countries to invest more in health and prioritise access for the poorest populations.
It calls for protecting health budgets even when public finances face pressure.
Countries should use assessments to prioritise services with the greatest health impact per dollar.
African nations are particularly vulnerable to these aid cuts given their health system challenges.
Nigeria has responded by increasing its health budget by 200 million dollars this year.
Ghana lifted the cap on excise tax for its national health insurance agency.
This tax change raised Ghana’s health budget by an impressive 60%.
AU health commissioner Amma Twum-Amoah insisted that health spending represents a high-return investment.
She declared that Africa must fund its own health future through this transition.
The commissioner emphasised moving from health dependency to health sovereignty for the continent. – AFP
