China, Qatar, Switzerland, and several other nations have pledged more than $170 million to the World Health Organization, according to an announcement at the WHO assembly on Tuesday.
Member states also agreed to increase their mandatory contributions to help make up for the anticipated loss of funding from the United States, the organization’s largest donor.
“In a challenging climate for global health, these funds will help us to preserve and extend our life-saving work,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said in a statement on new donations covering 2025-2028.
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The assembly formally adopted the new budget on Tuesday, which seeks to address the funding crisis, and it will increase countries’ mandatory fees by 20% over the next two years while making China the new top state donor.
As per the details, host Switzerland gave $40 million; Sweden gave $13.5 million; Angola gave $8 million; and Qatar gave $6 million. Other pledges came from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and ELMA Philanthropies. China’s earlier $500 million pledge has not been included in the list.
The WHO has already revised down its 2026-2027 budget by a fifth to $4.2 billion and cut management posts.
The financial crisis was triggered after the United States, the U.N. health agency’s biggest financial backer until now, decided to withdraw from the organisation. US President Donald Trump announced the decision on Day One of his presidency on January 20, a move that takes a year to implement.
