The World Health Organization (WHO) tried to balance its budget at a meeting that ended on Tuesday, but it still doesn’t have enough money. Because the United States, its biggest supporter, stopped giving money, WHO had to cut its budget for 2026-2027 from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion.

For 2024-2025, WHO’s budget was $6.8 billion.The smaller budget plan was approved at the World Health Assembly, which is WHO’s main decision-making meeting. Even after this, WHO still needs about $1.7 billion more to meet its budget.

How WHO gets its money

WHO plans its budget every two years. When WHO started in 1948, it got all its money from member countries through fees based on their size and wealth. But now, WHO depends more on donations from countries or groups who want the money to be spent on specific projects.By 2020-2021, only 16% of WHO’s money came from member fees, and most came from voluntary donations by a few big donors. In 2022, member countries agreed to increase their fees so that by 2030-2031, half of WHO’s core budget will come from these fees. This will help WHO get steady and flexible money to work with.

WHO raises membership fees again

The World Health Organization (WHO) increased the fees countries pay by 20% for 2024-2025. At a recent meeting, countries agreed to raise fees by another 20%, which will bring in about $90 million more each year. They also approved WHO’s budget of $4.2 billion for 2026-2027.WHO’s leader, Tedros said this shows that countries trust WHO during this important time. So far, WHO has secured 60% of its budget for 2026-2027, which is good given the current money problems. But WHO still needs $1.7 billion more.

Recently, donors promised $210 million more money for 2025-2028. This includes $80 million from Switzerland, $57 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, $13.5 million from Sweden, and $6 million from Qatar. Tedros said this money will help WHO continue its life-saving work.When Donald Trump returned to office in January, he started the process for the US to leave the World Health Organization (WHO) and stopped almost all US foreign aid.

US: Biggest donar

The US was the biggest donor to WHO. Its decision to leave and not pay fees for 2024 and 2025 has caused big money problems for WHO. The US did not join the recent World Health Assembly meeting.But US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent a video message saying WHO is too large and not working well. He asked other countries to think about creating new health groups with the US. Kennedy also said WHO is too influenced by China, ideas about gender, and drug companies.

Because of less money, WHO is making changes. They are cutting the top management team from 14 people to 7. They are also reducing departments from 76 to 34. So far, WHO has not announced big job cuts like some other UN groups.