Three in four countries suffering ‘severe disruption' to health after aid cuts, WHO warns
Three in four countries are suffering 'severe disruption' to healthcare systems after dramatic aid cuts by the United States and other countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
One in four countries also reported increased out-of-pocket payments for healthcare, job losses for healthcare workers, disruptions to information systems, and a faltering supply of medicines and health products.
The WHO has 'compiled feedback from more than 100 countries' to understand the impact of the aid cuts, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Thursday.
'The results show severe disruptions to health services in three quarters of countries, and closures of health facilities in one quarter of countries,' he said.
On January 20 2025, Donald Trump, the US President, issued an executive order suspending all foreign aid programmes for 90 days. Some 83 per cent of US foreign aid contracts have since been cancelled, plunging healthcare in the developing world into crisis.
In response, the WHO has begun work to accelerate the transition away from a reliance on foreign aid in favour of domestic fundraising, with the goal of fostering self-sufficiency in the supported countries, Dr Tedros said.
'WHO has been working with counties for many years to support them to transition away from a dependency to sustainable self-reliance, based on domestic resources,' he said. 'We are now supporting countries to accelerate that transition to avert the health impacts that these sudden and unplanned cuts are having.'
Several governments have already pledged to increase domestic health spending.
South Africa's parliament has approved an additional $1.5 billion for its health budget this year and Nigeria has allocated an additional $200 million dollars to health in its 2025 budget. Many others are taking action to absorb the cuts to aid and bridge their financing gap.
The WHO chief urged countries hit by the cuts to prioritise the poor and protect them from having to resort to 'impoverishing out-of-pocket health spending' on medical bills.
He also urged governments to maintain their health budgets, resist reductions in public health spending, and make efforts to avoid closing services or facilities.
Instead, governments looking to offset reductions in foreign aid should consider 'introducing or increasing taxes on products that harm health: tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks,' Dr Tedros said.
Dr Tedros admitted that the WHO, which the US plans to completely stop funding, was overly dependent on its large donors.
'We saw this coming but we didn't expect that it would be the US,' he said.
The WHO now plans to expand its donor base and hopes to emerge as a stronger organisation, Dr Tedros added.
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