{"id":23318,"date":"2026-02-04T15:44:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/who-warns-global-health-system-is-at-risk-as-funding-cuts-deepen\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:34:08","slug":"who-warns-global-health-system-is-at-risk-as-funding-cuts-deepen","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/who-warns-global-health-system-is-at-risk-as-funding-cuts-deepen\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO warns global health system is at risk as funding cuts deepen"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Addressing the WHO Executive Board in Geneva earlier this week, Director\u2011General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 2025 had been \u201cone of the most difficult years\u201d in the agency\u2019s history, with reduced resources forcing workforce cuts and straining operations across multiple regions.<\/div>\n<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Tedros told ministers and diplomats that \u201csignificant cuts to our funding\u201d had directly impacted the WHO\u2019s ability to support countries in crisis. He said sudden reductions in bilateral aid had caused \u201chuge disruptions to health systems and services in many countries,\u201d especially low\u2011and middle\u2011income nations that rely heavily on external support to maintain basic healthcare.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>While the WHO had managed to sustain lifesaving interventions, the funding crisis had exposed deeper vulnerabilities in the global health architecture, Tedros said, warning that many countries were struggling to keep essential services running.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The WHO Executive Board is meeting under intense global pressure, with an agenda that spans pandemic preparedness, immunisation, antimicrobial resistance, mental health, and health emergencies in conflict settings. Members are also reviewing governance reform, budget pressures and the formal notifications of withdrawal from the WHO by the United States and Argentina.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The outcomes from this week\u2019s session will be forwarded to the World Health Assembly in May, shaping the agency\u2019s priorities at a time when international cooperation and predictable financing are under threat.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Tedros said the WHO\u2019s financial challenges mirrored a broader retreat from global health financing, a trend that is forcing countries to make difficult decisions over which services to prioritise.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cIn response to funding cuts, WHO is supporting many countries to sustain essential health services, and to transition away from aid dependency towards self\u2011reliance,\u201d he said. Domestic resource mobilisation, including higher taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks, was becoming increasingly important. Yet the scale of unmet need remains enormous.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23319,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-23318","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that mounting cuts to international aid and persistent financing gaps are weakening the global health system at a time when pandemic threats, drug\u2011resistant infections and fragile health services are all on the rise.","published_date":null,"news_description":"The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that mounting cuts to international aid and persistent financing gaps are weakening the global health system at a time when pandemic threats, drug\u2011resistant infections and fragile health services are all on the rise.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26320,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23318\/revisions\/26320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=23318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}