The World Health Organization is bracing for a cascade of health‑care setbacks after Washington’s abrupt decision to freeze most foreign‑aid flows and wind down USAID, the U.S. government’s flagship development agency.
“Our trauma‑care stockpiles, emergency medical teams and surveillance networks are already shrinking. Several programmes have been forced to pause—and some will not resume,” warned Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, in an interview on Sunday. Antigua News Room
What changed in Washington
- Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, the administration has withheld FY 2024 dues to the WHO, signalled it will quit the agency, and ordered USAID’s dismantling. Antigua News Room
- A separate internal “pass‑back” reviewed by Reuters shows the State Department’s FY 2026 budget would be cut nearly in half—with foreign‑assistance accounts plunging from US $38.3 billion to US $16.9 billion and 27 U.S. missions slated for closure. Reuters
Immediate fallout for global health
- WHO has drafted an emergency plan to shrink its own operating budget by 20 percent to absorb the loss of U.S. contributions, historically its largest single funding stream. Antigua News Room
- Balkhy said the freeze is already disrupting disease‑surveillance grids in Sudan and Yemen and stalling deliveries of trauma kits to Gaza, where fighting has left hospitals “hanging by a thread.” Antigua News Room
Why it matters
Without U.S. financing—and absent alternative donors—WHO officials say:
- Outbreak detection will slow, increasing the risk that local flare‑ups of cholera, dengue or novel viruses spread unchecked.
- Reconstruction of damaged clinics in conflict zones could stall for years, leaving millions without basic care.
- Information‑sharing pipelines between U.S. research institutions and the UN health body will fray, hampering rapid vaccine or treatment development during future pandemics. Antigua News Room
What happens next
Congress can still override or dilute the administration’s proposed cuts, but time is short: WHO’s next assessment of its 2025 work plan is due in June. Senior diplomats from the European Union and Japan have already scheduled consultations in Geneva to discuss bridging the gap, though they privately concede the funding hole is “too large for any single bloc to fill.”
The World Health Organization is bracing for a cascade of health‑care setbacks after Washington’s abrupt decision to freeze most foreign‑aid flows and wind down USAID, the U.S. government’s flagship development agency.
“Our trauma‑care stockpiles, emergency medical teams and surveillance networks are already shrinking. Several programmes have been forced to pause—and some will not resume,” warned Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, in an interview on Sunday. Antigua News Room
What changed in Washington
- Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, the administration has withheld FY 2024 dues to the WHO, signalled it will quit the agency, and ordered USAID’s dismantling. Antigua News Room
- A separate internal “pass‑back” reviewed by Reuters shows the State Department’s FY 2026 budget would be cut nearly in half—with foreign‑assistance accounts plunging from US $38.3 billion to US $16.9 billion and 27 U.S. missions slated for closure. Reuters
Immediate fallout for global health
- WHO has drafted an emergency plan to shrink its own operating budget by 20 percent to absorb the loss of U.S. contributions, historically its largest single funding stream. Antigua News Room
- Balkhy said the freeze is already disrupting disease‑surveillance grids in Sudan and Yemen and stalling deliveries of trauma kits to Gaza, where fighting has left hospitals “hanging by a thread.” Antigua News Room
Why it matters
Without U.S. financing—and absent alternative donors—WHO officials say:
- Outbreak detection will slow, increasing the risk that local flare‑ups of cholera, dengue or novel viruses spread unchecked.
- Reconstruction of damaged clinics in conflict zones could stall for years, leaving millions without basic care.
- Information‑sharing pipelines between U.S. research institutions and the UN health body will fray, hampering rapid vaccine or treatment development during future pandemics. Antigua News Room
What happens next
Congress can still override or dilute the administration’s proposed cuts, but time is short: WHO’s next assessment of its 2025 work plan is due in June. Senior diplomats from the European Union and Japan have already scheduled consultations in Geneva to discuss bridging the gap, though they privately concede the funding hole is “too large for any single bloc to fill.”
“Viruses are indifferent to politics,” Balkhy cautioned. “Weakening the global safety net ultimately puts every country, including the United States, at greater risk.”
