UN Feels Donald Trump Suspending WHO Funding Could Impact Fight Against Coronavirus

In what caught world leaders and health experts completely off guard, US President Donald Trump said he will suspend funding WHO, as he feels it did not handle the coronavirus crisis properly.

This decision saw a reaction from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He said the virus was ¡°unprecedented,¡± and added that it was ¡°not the time to reduce the resources of the World Health Organisation or any other humanitarian organisation in the fight against the virus".

To understand what this means for the WHO, it is important to study the funding structure of the world's foremost health body. The WHO receives funding through two primary channels ¨C assessed contributions and voluntary contributions.

Reuters

Assessed contributions are, effectively, membership fees calculated based on the gross domestic product and size of populations across its 194 member states. Although now making up around only a quarter of the WHO's total budget, assessed contributions still remain an important funding source for the organisation.

Voluntary contributions are those funds provided by philanthropic groups, civil organisations, private donors and governments. These funds make up the bulk of the WHO's budget, and can be allocated to specific projects around the world, such as, in this instance, the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reuters

The United States is the WHO's largest contributor and between the two-year funding cycle of 2018-2019, provided $893 million or 14.67 per cent of the organisation's $6.2 billion budget. The second-largest contributor is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that provides 9.76 per cent, followed by a Geneva based semi-public organisation (also partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) called GAVI Alliance that donates approximately 8.39 per cent.

The next biggest country contribution comes from the United Kingdom that paid the WHO $434.8 million over the last funding cycle, followed by Germany and Japan. China contributed $86 million or 0.21 per cent of the WHO's budget during the same period.

Reuters

Originally established in 1948, the WHO was created with a mandate to work toward ¡°a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.¡± Member states designate representatives to attend its annual World Health Assembly in Geneva to constitute its policies, and approve its budget.