‘Painful decision': WHO announces major overhaul, layoffs amid US funding cuts
GENEVA, April 22 — The World Health Organization chief acknowledged yesterday that US funding cuts had left the UN agency with a huge budget gap, forcing it to slash operations and lay off staff.
'The sudden drop in income has left us with a large salary gap and no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce,' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states, according to a transcript of his opening remarks.
The United Nations health agency has been bracing for the planned full withdrawal of the United States — traditionally its largest donor by far — next January.
US President Donald Trump's administration has meanwhile also refused to pay agreed membership fees — called assessed contributions — for 2024 and 2025, even as it has frozen virtually all US foreign aid, including vast assistance to health projects worldwide.
A number of other countries have also been reducing their foreign aid spending.
Faced with this situation, the WHO has been reflecting on a new organisational structure, which Tedros presented to staff and member states yesterday.
'The refusal of the US to pay its assessed contributions for 2024 and 2025, combined with reductions in official development assistance by some other countries, means we are facing a salary gap for the 2026–27 biennium of between $560 (RM2.47 billion) and $650 million,' he acknowledged.
The lower end of that spectrum 'represents about 25 per cent of staff costs' currently, he said, stressing though that 'that doesn't necessarily mean a 25 per cent cut to the number of positions'.
He did not say how many jobs would be lost, but said the most significant impact was expected to be felt at the organisation's headquarters in Geneva, and 'we are starting with reductions in senior management'.
'We are reducing the senior leadership team at headquarters from 12 to seven, and the number of departments will be reduced by (more than) half, from 76 to 34,' Tedros said.
'These are very painful decisions for all of us.' — AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Borneo Post
2 days ago
- Borneo Post
WHO warns of rising Covid-19 cases due to new variant
A picture taken on March 9, 2020 shows the logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the entrance of their headquarters in Geneva. – AFP photo WASHINGTON (June 9): The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned of a rise in COVID-19 infections linked to the emergence of a new variant, NB.1.8.1, which is currently under investigation, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported. While the organisation confirmed that the new variant does not pose a greater health risk than previous strains, it noted that the continued evolution of the virus could lead to new waves of infection. WHO stated that the current increase aligns with the virus's seasonal pattern and emphasised that the need for hospitalisation or intensive care remains limited due to widespread community immunity and vaccination coverage. The global health body classified the overall global risk level as 'high', urging countries to strengthen health surveillance, integrate COVID-19 into seasonal respiratory disease strategies, combat misinformation, and encourage individuals to adhere to preventive measures. – Bernama-WAM covid-19 health new variant world health organisation
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Man who let snakes bite him 200 times spurs new antivenom hope
SOUTH-EAST ASIA/PARIS (AFP): Tim Friede was feeling particularly down on the day after the September 11 attacks, so he went to his basement and let two of the world's deadliest snakes bite him. Four days later, he woke up from a coma. "I know what it feels like to die from snakebite," Friede told AFP via video call from his home in the small US town of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. This experience might put most people off snakes entirely, but Friede simply vowed to be more careful next time. From 2000 to 2018, he allowed himself to be bitten by snakes more than 200 times. He also injected himself with their venom over 650 times. Friede endured this pain because he wanted to achieve total immunity to venom, a practice called mithridatism which should not be tried at home. After a couple of years, Friede started to believe he could be the basis for a better kind of antivenom. The former truck mechanic, who does not have a university degree, long struggled to be taken seriously by scientists. But last month, a study published in the prestigious Cell journal showed that antibodies from his blood protect against a range of snake venom. The researchers now hope Friede's hyper-immunity could even lead to the development of a universal antivenom. This would fill a major need, because currently most antivenoms only cover one or a few of the world's 600 venomous snakes. Up to 138,000 people are killed by snakebites a year, while 400,000 suffer amputations or other disabilities, according to the World Health Organization. These figures are believed to be vastly underestimated because snakebite victims typically live in poorer, remote areas. - 'Pain every time' - Friede's first bite was from a harmless garter snake when he was five years old. "I was afraid, I cried, I ran away," said Friede, now 57. Then he started bringing snakes home and hiding them in pickle jars. His mother sought counselling, but his interest in snakes persisted. Things escalated after Friede attended a class that taught him how to "milk" snakes for their venom. How antivenom is made has changed little over the last 125 years. Small doses of snake venom are injected into animals such as horses, which produce antibodies that can be extracted and used as antivenom. Researchers hope Friede's hyper-immunity could even lead to the development of a universal anti-venom. -- PHOTO: AFP However this antivenom usually only works for bites from that particular species of snake -- and it includes other antibodies from horse that can cause serious side-effects including anaphylactic shock. "I thought, well, if they make antivenom in horses, why can't I just use myself as a primate?" Friede said. He started working through the venom from all the deadly species he could get his hands on, such as cobras, taipans, black mambas and rattlesnakes. "There is pain every time," he said. - 'Proud' - For years, the scientists he contacted to take advantage of his immunity refused to bite. Then in 2017, immunologist Jacob Glanville, who previously worked on universal vaccines, turned his attention towards antivenom. Glanville told AFP he had been looking for "a clumsy snake researcher who'd been bit accidentally a couple times," when he came across a video of Friede taking brutal back-to-back snake bites. When they first spoke, Glanville said he told Friede: "I know this is awkward, but I would love to get my hands on some of your blood." "I've been waiting for this call for a long time," came the response, Glanville said. The antivenom described in the Cell paper includes two antibodies from Friede's blood, as well as a drug called varespladib. It offered mice full protection against 13 of the 19 snake species tested, and partial protection for the remaining six. The researchers hope a future cocktail will cover far more snakes -- particularly vipers -- with further trials planned on dogs in Australia. Timothy Jackson of the Australian Venom Research Unit praised the immunological research, but questioned whether a human needed to be involved, pointing to synthetically developed antibodies. Glanville said the ultimate goal of his US-based firm Centivax was to develop a universal antivenom administered by something like an EpiPen, potentially produced in India to keep the costs down. Friede said he was "proud" to have made a "small difference" in medical history. Now working for Centivax, Friede stopped self-inflicting himself with venom in 2018 to save the firm from liability issues. But he hopes to get bitten by snakes again in the future. "I do miss it," he said. - AFP
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- New Straits Times
Man who let snakes bite him 200 times spurs new antivenom hope
TIM Friede was feeling particularly down on the day after the September 11 attacks, so he went to his basement and let two of the world's deadliest snakes bite him. Four days later, he woke up from a coma. "I know what it feels like to die from snakebite," Friede told AFP via video call from his home in the small US town of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. This experience might put most people off snakes entirely, but Friede simply vowed to be more careful next time. From 2000 to 2018, he allowed himself to be bitten by snakes more than 200 times. He also injected himself with their venom over 650 times. Friede endured this pain because he wanted to achieve total immunity to venom, a practice called mithridatism which should not be tried at home. After a couple of years, Friede started to believe he could be the basis for a better kind of antivenom. The former truck mechanic, who does not have a university degree, long struggled to be taken seriously by scientists. But last month, a study published in the prestigious Cell journal showed that antibodies from his blood protect against a range of snake venom. The researchers now hope Friede's hyper-immunity could even lead to the development of a universal antivenom. This would fill a major need, because currently most antivenoms only cover one or a few of the world's 600 venomous snakes. Up to 138,000 people are killed by snakebites a year, while 400,000 suffer amputations or other disabilities, according to the World Health Organization. These figures are believed to be vastly underestimated because snakebite victims typically live in poorer, remote areas. Friede's first bite was from a harmless garter snake when he was five years old. "I was afraid, I cried, I ran away," said Friede, now 57. Then he started bringing snakes home and hiding them in pickle jars. His mother sought counselling, but his interest in snakes persisted. Things escalated after Friede attended a class that taught him how to "milk" snakes for their venom. How antivenom is made has changed little over the last 125 years. Small doses of snake venom are injected into animals such as horses, which produce antibodies that can be extracted and used as antivenom. However this antivenom usually only works for bites from that particular species of snake – and it includes other antibodies from horse that can cause serious side-effects including anaphylactic shock. "I thought, well, if they make antivenom in horses, why can't I just use myself as a primate?" Friede said. He started working through the venom from all the deadly species he could get his hands on, such as cobras, taipans, black mambas and rattlesnakes. "There is pain every time," he said. For years, the scientists he contacted to take advantage of his immunity refused to bite. Then in 2017, immunologist Jacob Glanville, who previously worked on universal vaccines, turned his attention towards antivenom. Glanville told AFP he had been looking for "a clumsy snake researcher who'd been bit accidentally a couple times," when he came across a video of Friede taking brutal back-to-back snake bites. When they first spoke, Glanville said he told Friede: "I know this is awkward, but I would love to get my hands on some of your blood." "I've been waiting for this call for a long time," came the response, Glanville said. The antivenom described in the Cell paper includes two antibodies from Friede's blood, as well as a drug called varespladib. It offered mice full protection against 13 of the 19 snake species tested, and partial protection for the remaining six. The researchers hope a future cocktail will cover far more snakes – particularly vipers – with further trials planned on dogs in Australia. Timothy Jackson of the Australian Venom Research Unit praised the immunological research, but questioned whether a human needed to be involved, pointing to synthetically developed antibodies. * The writer is from AFP Glanville said the ultimate goal of his US-based firm Centivax was to develop a universal antivenom administered by something like an EpiPen, potentially produced in India to keep the costs down. Friede said he was "proud" to have made a "small difference" in medical history. Now working for Centivax, Friede stopped self-inflicting himself with venom in 2018 to save the firm from liability issues. But he hopes to get bitten by snakes again in the future. "I do miss it," he said.
