After US cuts funding, WHO chief defends USD 2.1 billion budget request by comparing it with cost of war

STRIPPED of US funding, the World Health Organisation chief on Monday appealed to member countries to support its “extremely modesť” request for a USD 2.1 billion annual budget by putting that sum into perspective next to outlays for ad campaigns for tobacco or the cost of war.

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After nearly 80 years of striving to improve human lives and health — which critics say it has done poorly or not enough -- the UN health agency is fighting for its own after US President Donald Trump in January halted funding from the United States, which has traditionally been WHO's largest donor.

“Two-point-one billion dollars is the equivalent of global military expenditure every eight hours,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “Two-point-one billion dollars is the price of one stealth bomber, to kill people.”

“And USD 2.1 billion is one-quarter of what the tobacco industry spends on advertising and promotion every single year. Again, a product that kills people,” he told the WHO's annual assembly. “It seems somebody switched the price tags on what is truly valuable in our world.”

Tedros made no specific reference to the US cuts but has said previously the US pullout was a “mistake” and urged Washington to reconsider.

WHO has presented a budget for the next two years that is 22 per cent less than originally planned, largely in response to US and other Western funding cuts, and says it has landed commitments for about 60% of that. But it still faces a budget gap of USD 1.7 billion.

“We know that in the current landscape, mobilising that sum will be a challenge. We are not naive to that challenge," Tedros said.