The World Health Organization (WHO), which helps take care of health problems around the world, is having a tough time with money right now.
At a big meeting this week, called the World Health Assembly, WHO leaders tried to fix their budget (that’s like a plan for how much money they’ll spend). But even after cutting down their spending plans, they still don’t have enough money.
What’s the problem?
The United States used to be WHO’s biggest helper, giving lots of money. But now, the U.S. has stopped giving money and even plans to leave WHO completely. That’s a big deal because it means WHO lost one of its main sources of support.
Because of this, WHO had to cut its 2026–2027 budget from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion—that’s over 1 billion dollars less than they hoped for.
Even with the smaller budget, WHO still needs $1.7 billion more to make things work.
How does WHO get money?
When WHO was first created in 1948, it got money from membership fees that each country paid—based on how rich and big their population was. That was called “assessed contributions.”
But over time, WHO started depending more on “voluntary contributions,” which are donations from countries or groups who want to help—but only for certain things. That made WHO’s money harder to control or plan for.
By 2020, only 16% of the money WHO used was from required fees. The rest came from these special donations, mostly from a few rich donors like the U.S.
What’s happening now?
In 2022, countries agreed that by 2030, they should go back to paying more in membership fees—up to 50% of WHO’s core money.
This year, countries raised their fees again by 20%, which means WHO will get about $90 million more each year. That helps, but not enough.
At the same time, WHO officially approved the $4.2 billion budget for 2026–2027.
So far, they’ve gotten 60% of the money they need, which is good. But they still need to find $1.7 billion more.
Who’s helping?
Some countries and groups have promised extra money:
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Switzerland gave $80 million
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Novo Nordisk Foundation gave $57 million
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Sweden gave $13.5 million
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Qatar gave $6 million
All this adds up to $210 million—still not enough, but it helps WHO keep doing its work to save lives and fight diseases.
What about the U.S.?
After returning to office, President Donald Trump started the steps to leave WHO again. He also stopped almost all U.S. foreign aid.
The U.S. didn’t even attend this year’s WHO meeting. Instead, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent a video saying WHO is not doing a good job and is too influenced by China and drug companies.
He told other countries they should make a new health group instead of sticking with WHO.
So, what is WHO doing now?
Because of all the lost money, WHO is reorganizing:
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The top management team is getting cut in half (from 14 people to 7).
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The number of departments will go down from 76 to 34.
So far, WHO hasn’t said anything about firing lots of workers—unlike other UN groups.
Summary (for kids):
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WHO helps the world stay healthy.
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The U.S. stopped helping and now WHO is short on money.
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WHO is cutting costs, getting help from other countries, and reorganizing to stay strong.
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They still need more money, but they’re doing their best to keep helping people around the world.
