GENEVA (AP) 鈥� The World Health Organization chief asked global leaders to lean on Washington to reverse to withdraw from the U.N. health agency, insisting in a closed-door meeting with diplomats last week that the U.S. will miss out on critical information about global disease outbreaks.
But countries also pressed WHO at a key budget meeting last Wednesday about how it might cope with , according to internal meeting materials obtained by The Associated Press. A German envoy, Bjorn Kummel, warned: 鈥淭he roof is on fire, and we need to stop the fire as soon as possible.鈥�
For , the U.S. is WHO鈥檚 biggest donor by far, putting in an estimated $988 million, roughly 14% of WHO鈥檚 $6.9 billion budget.
A budget document presented at the meeting showed WHO鈥檚 health emergencies program has a 鈥渉eavy reliance鈥� on American cash. 鈥淩eadiness functions鈥� in WHO鈥檚 Europe office were more than 80% reliant on the $154 million the U.S. contributes.
The document said U.S. funding 鈥減rovides the backbone of many of WHO's large-scale emergency operations,鈥� covering up to 40%. It said responses in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan were at risk, in addition to hundreds of millions of dollars lost by polio-eradication and HIV programs.
The U.S. also covers 95% of WHO's tuberculosis work in Europe and more than 60% of TB efforts in Africa, the Western Pacific and at the agency headquarters in Geneva, the document said.
At a separate private meeting on the impact of the U.S. exit last Wednesday, WHO finance director George Kyriacou said if the agency spends at its current rate, the organization would 鈥渂e very much in a hand-to-mouth type situation when it comes to our cash flows鈥� in the first half of 2026. He added the current rate of spending is 鈥渟omething we're not going to do," according to a recording obtained by the AP.
Since Trump鈥檚 executive order, WHO has attempted to withdraw funds from the U.S. for past expenses, Kyriacou said, but most of those 鈥渉ave not been accepted.鈥�
The U.S. also has yet to settle its owed contributions to WHO for 2024, pushing the agency into a deficit, he added.
WHO's executive board, made up of 34 high-level envoys including many national health ministers, was expected to discuss budget matters during its latest session, which opens Monday and is set to run through Feb. 11.
WHO's leader wants to bring back the US
Last week, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with WHO immediately.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the attendees at the budget meeting that the agency is still providing U.S. scientists with some data 鈥� though it isn't known what data.
鈥淲e continue to give them information because they need it,鈥� Tedros said, urging member countries to contact U.S officials. 鈥淲e would appreciate it if you continue to push and reach out to them to reconsider.鈥�
Among other health crises, WHO is currently working to stop outbreaks of virus in Tanzania, in Uganda and in Congo.
Tedros rebutted Trump鈥檚 three stated reasons for leaving the agency in the executive order signed on Jan. 20 鈥� Trump's first day back in office. In the order, the president said WHO mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic that began in , failed to adopt needed reforms and that U.S. membership required 鈥渦nfairly onerous payments."
Tedros said WHO about the potential dangers of the coronavirus and has made dozens of reforms since 鈥� including efforts to expand its donor base.
Tedros also said he believed the U.S. departure was 鈥渘ot about the money鈥� but more about the 鈥渧oid鈥� in outbreak details and other critical health information that the United States would face in the future.
鈥淏ringing the U.S. back will be very important," he told meeting attendees. "And on that, I think all of you can play a role.鈥�
Kummel, a senior advisor on global health in Germany's health ministry, described the U.S. exit as 鈥渢he most extensive crisis WHO has been facing in the past decades.鈥�
He also asked: 鈥淲hat concrete functions of WHO will collapse if the funding of the U.S. is not existent anymore?鈥�
Officials from countries including Bangladesh and France asked what specific plans WHO had to deal with the loss of U.S. funding and wondered which health programs would be cut as a result.
The AP obtained a document shared among some WHO senior managers that laid out several options, including a proposal that each major department or office might be slashed in half by the end of the year.
WHO declined to comment on whether Tedros had privately asked countries to lobby on the agency's behalf.
Experts say US benefits from WHO
Some experts said that while the departure of the U.S. was a major crisis, it might also serve as an opportunity to reshape global public health.
Less than 1% of the U.S. health budget goes to WHO, said Matthew Kavanagh, director of Georgetown University鈥檚 Center for Global Health Policy and Politics. In exchange, the U.S. gets 鈥渁 wide variety of benefits to Americans that matter quite a bit,鈥� he said. That includes intelligence about disease epidemics globally and virus samples for vaccines.
Kavanagh also said the WHO is "massively underfunded,鈥� describing the contributions from rich countries as 鈥減eanuts.鈥�
WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said at the meeting on the impact of the U.S. withdrawal last week that losing the U.S. was 鈥渢errible,鈥� but member states had 鈥渢remendous capacity to fill in those gaps.鈥�
Ryan told WHO member countries: 鈥淭he U.S. is leaving a community of nations. It鈥檚 essentially breaking up with you.鈥�
Kavanagh doubted the U.S. would be able to match WHO's ability to gather details about emerging health threats globally, and said its exit from the agency 鈥渨ill absolutely lead to worse health outcomes for Americans.鈥�
鈥淗ow much worse remains to be seen,鈥� Kavanagh said.
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Cheng reported from Toronto.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Maria Cheng And Jamey Keaten, The Associated Press
