Four officials involved in the talks said that the Biden administration has doubts about the Biden administration's long-term support for the UN agency, as the top donor of the United States is resisting proposals to make the agency more independent.
The proposal, made by the WHO's Working Group on Sustainable Fining, would increase the standing annual contribution of each member state, according to a document published online and dated Jan. 4.
The plan is part of a wider reform process that has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted the limitations of WHO's power to intervene early in a crisis.
The US government is opposing the reform because it has concerns about WHO's ability to confront future threats, including from China, U.S. officials said.
It is pushing for the creation of a separate fund, directly controlled by donors, that would finance prevention and control health emergencies.
Four European officials who were not authorized to speak to the media, who declined to be named, confirmed the U.S. opposition. The U.S. government didn't immediately make a statement.
The proposal calls for member states' mandatory contributions to increase gradually from 2024 so they would account for half of the agency's $2 billion 227 billion core budget by 2028, compared to less than 20% now, according to the document.
The WHO's core budget is aimed at fighting pandemics and strengthening healthcare systems across the world. It raises an additional $1 billion a year to tackle specific global challenges such as tropical diseases and influenza.
Supporters claim that the WHO is less able to criticize members when things go wrong because of the reliance on voluntary funding from member states and charities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
An independent panel on pandemics was appointed to advise on WHO reform, but the current system was deemed to be a major risk to the integrity and independence of the WHO, and it called for a bigger increase in mandatory fees to 75% of the core budget.
The WHO responded to a query by saying that only flexible and predictable funds can enable WHO to fully implement the priorities of the Member States. Three of the European officials said that top European Union donors, including Germany, back the plan, along with most African, South Asian, South American and Arab countries.
Three of the officials said that the proposal is going to be discussed at the WHO's executive board meeting next week, but the divisions mean no agreement is expected.
The WHO confirmed there was no consensus among member states, and said that talks were likely to continue until the May annual meeting of the World Health Assembly, the agency's top decision-making body.
European donors favor empowering rather than weakening multilateral organizations like the WHO.
One European official said the creation of a new structure controlled by donors rather than by the WHO would weaken the agency's ability to combat future epidemics, as a result of the U.S. plan, which causes skepticism among many countries.
Washington has been critical of the WHO for a long time.
Former president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the WHO after accusing him of defending China's initial delays in sharing information when COVID 19 emerged there in 2019.
The Biden administration returned to office soon after taking office but officials said they think the WHO needs major reform and raised concerns about governance, structure and ability to confront rising threats, not least from China.
One of the European officials said that other big countries, including Japan and Brazil, were hesitant about the WHO proposal.
A Brazilian official said that Brazil agreed that WHO funding needed to be looked at, but said it opposes the proposal to raise contributions because it had run up deficits tackling the virus and was facing a fiscal crunch.
The WHO needs to look at other ways to raise funds, such as charging for services, reducing costs or moving operations to cheaper countries, according to the official.
The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the discussions, said that raising contributions should be the last resort.
Two of the European officials said that China had not yet made its position clear, while a third official listed Beijing among the critics of the proposal.
The governments of China and Japan didn't make a statement immediately.