World Health Organization appeals for $1 billion to aid 239 million people in 36 severe emergencies, including Gaza and Sudan, as global funding shrinks and access to care declines.
GENEVA: The World Health Organization has appealed for $1 billion to tackle the world’s most severe health emergencies in 2026.
The funds are needed to sustain essential health services for an estimated 239 million people across 36 crises, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu warned that a quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections.
“In these settings, health needs are surging, whether due to injuries, disease outbreaks, malnutrition or untreated chronic diseases,” he told reporters.
He added that access to care is shrinking despite the growing need.
The emergency request is lower than recent appeals due to a global funding crunch for aid operations.
This follows significant cuts in foreign aid spending by the United States, traditionally the WHO’s biggest donor.
Last year, the agency appealed for $1.5 billion but ultimately received only $900 million.
Ihekweazu said the agency has been recognising that the appetite for resource mobilisation is much smaller than it was in previous years.
“That’s one of the reasons that we’ve calibrated our ask a little bit more towards what is available realistically,” he explained.
The WHO stated it is now hyper-prioritising the highest-impact services and scaling back lower-impact activities to maximise lives saved.
Global funding cuts last year forced 6,700 health facilities across 22 humanitarian settings to either close or reduce services.
This cut 53 million people off from health care, according to Ihekweazu.
“Families living on the edge face impossible decisions, such as whether to buy food or medicine,” he said.
He stressed that people should never have to make these choices.
“This is why today we are appealing to the better sense of countries, and of people, and asking them to invest in a healthier, safer world.”
