US contributions to World Health Organization fell by 25% during Pandemic
BRUSSELS GENEVA: US financial contributions to the World Health Organization have fallen by 25 per cent during the coronaviruses, with Washington's future support to the UN agency under review, provisional data shows.
The cuts made by the former US President Donald Trump reveal for the first time the scale of the Trump administration's retreat from the UN body, which caused a huge drop in funding compared to the previous two-year period.
The Biden administration has also raised doubts about Washington's support for the global organisation.
The UN agency did not have more than US $200 million less from the United States in 2020 and 2021, according to provisional WHO data that has not yet been made public, although it managed to raise more funds from other donors, which has allowed an increase in its total budget, according to provisional WHO data.
Washington paid $672 million to the WHO for its latest two-year budget, down from US $893 million in 2018 -- 19, according to provisional data.
The United States is no longer the top donor of the WHO, with Germany gradually replacing it with transfers of more than a billion dollars over the last two years.
The US State Department did not respond to a request for comment. A WHO spokesman didn't immediately provide an official statement.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the third largest donor to the WHO, with US $584 million in 2020 - 21 largely spent on a global programme to eradicate polio. The foundation did not reply to a request for comment.
Over the past two years, US funds went down mostly in 2020 - Trump's last full year in the White House - amid a fall in voluntary contributions.
In 2021, funding doubled when Biden took over, but the increase was not enough to restore the US financing level compared to previous periods.
Trump sacked funding and moved to withdraw the United States from the WHO, accusing it of being too close to China and mismanaged the first phase of the epidemic, accusations that the WHO denied.
The Biden administration brought Washington back into the WHO, vowed to restore funding, but has also expressed doubts about the WHO's ability to tackle new challenges, including from China.
Part of the US financial contributions were delayed by the WHO to next year. The fall in US funds was still about 20 per cent, according to WHO data.
One-third of US funds were mandatory membership fees, which were stable compared to past years at around US $230 million per year.
The WHO considers this funding to be the best funding because it allows for more flexibility in spending and allows the agency to channel the money where it is most needed.
Most of the funding went to areas selected by the US government.
This is part of a wider trend, with the WHO having received just less than 20 per cent of its funding in recent years from these mandatory contributions.
One of the areas underfunded as of December 21 was country preparation for health emergencies, such as the current Pandemic, which is only 73 per cent funded, according to the WHO document.
The current funding structure is restrictive, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He told the WHO's Executive Board during a public debate that the current financing model is unsustainable because of the fact that whatever we have done is mainly an earmarked budget.
The United States is opposing a plan to raise mandatory fees, or assessed contributions, to 50 per cent of WHO's budget in the next few years.
The US wants to better understand the current funding mechanisms, efficiencies and decision-making before considering increases in assessed contributions, said Mara Burr, US health official, told the WHO on Tuesday that Washington supported efforts to address gaps in financing for preparedness.
The WHO's funding comes from voluntary contributions from states or private donors who decide the sectors or even the projects where they should be used.
This is a factor that has led the Geneva-based agency to delay the use of funds because they could not be devoted to fighting the Pandemic.