Explainer: Who funds the WHO? What is the size of its budget?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 24, 2020
After POTUS Donald Trump announced that USA is halting its funding to the WHO, there has been a lot of debate around WHO’s finances. So, who funds the WHO? What is the size of its budget? Here is a detailed explainer.
The World HealthOrganization (WHO) has been in the spotlight for the last few months followingthe outbreak of COVID-19. It is also being accused of acting in China’sinterests above all.
Recently, USPresident Donald Trump, during one of his interactions with media, said that hehas instructed his administration to halt the funding to WHO. He alleged that WHO was ‘mismanaging andcovering up the spread of coronavirus’. The decision has been criticized bymany as it has been taken at a time when the entire world is fighting a crisis.
President @realDonaldTrump is halting funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess WHO's role in mismanaging the Coronavirus outbreak. pic.twitter.com/jTrEf4WWj0
How much does the US contribute to WHO? Where does WHO get its funds from? What are the implications if the USA suspends its funding? Here are the details.
WHO was
founded in 1948 to monitor public health at global level
WHO is an agency of United Nations that was formed in 1948 to ‘direct and coordinate international health within United Nations system.’ In simpler terms, WHO plays a pivotal role in the governance of health and diseases, at a global level. Besides taking up a leadership role on global health, some major functions of WHO include research, monitoring and assessment of health trends and concerns, and formulation of policies. During public health emergencies, like the current one due to COVID-19, it is the WHO that takes a leadership role and provide guidance to countries on what all needs to be done and precautionary measures to be taken. Presently, there are 194 member states with which WHO works. WHO relies on contributions from these member countries and private organizations for its budget.
Assessed
contributions and voluntary contributions are the sources of funding for WHO
To meet itsbudgetary expenses, WHO receives contributions falling in either of the twocategories – assessed contributions and voluntary contributions.
Dues paid bycountries to be a member of WHO are known as assessed contributions. The amount to be paid by each country is calculated basedon its wealth and population.
Voluntary contributions are funds which are given by member states (in addition to their assessed contribution), private organizations, and even individuals. Just as the name suggests, these contributions are purely voluntary. Core voluntary contributions are those funds which are flexible and can be used to cover general expenses or low funded activities, thereby facilitating the easy implementation of programs. Specified voluntary contributions are those which are earmarked for ‘specified’ projects or activities.
Assessed
contributions account for only 1/4th of program budget while
voluntary contributions make up for remaining 3/4th
Over the years,assessed contributions have dwindled as a proportion of program budget. Itaccounts for only less than a quarter of WHO’s finances. Meanwhile, voluntarycontributions account for the remaining 75% of WHO’s funding.
Advantage ofassessed contributions over voluntary contributions is that it is flexible andhas higher predictability since it is agreed with member states in advance. Thishelps in planning budget accordingly. Furthermore, it reduces dependence ondonors.
Large chunk
of contributions to WHO are specified voluntary contributions
As of the fourthquarter of 2019, WHO received a total contribution of  US$ 5.62billion comprising of assessed contributions of $956 million, specifiedvoluntary contributions amounting to $4.38 billion, core voluntarycontributions of $160 million, and PIP contributions worth $178 million, forthe biennium 2018-19. In other words, the biennial budget of the WHO is around$5.62 billion an annual budget of around $ 2.8 billion. As is evident from thedata,  specified voluntary contributionsmake up for the larger chunk of contributions.
USA’s contributionamounts to $893 million including an assessed contribution of $236.9 millionand specified voluntary contribution of $656 million as in the last quarter of2019.
Similarly, India’scontribution amounts to $18.3 million specified voluntary contribution and $7million assessed contributions, totalling to $25.3 million.
Pandemic
Influenza Preparedness Framework was introduced in 2011
Since 2011, Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Partnership Contribution was introduced in addition to the existing type of contributions. This contribution is made by influenza vaccine, diagnostic, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, who use Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS). PIP funds are utilized for pandemic influenza preparedness capacity building, and response activities. WHO determines potential contributors every year taking into account their nature and capabilities.
Almost 16% of
WHO’s funding is through USA’s contribution
Currently, USA’scontribution totals 15.88% of the total funding of WHO, thereby making it thebiggest contributor of WHO. Apart from USA, top contributors contributing morethan $200 million are Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (9.4%), UK (7.7%),GAVI Vaccine Alliance (6.59%), Germany (5.19%), and Japan (3.8%). Internationalbodies – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (3.41%), RotaryInternational (2.53%), World Bank (2.35%), and European Commission (2.33%) arealso a part of the top ten contributors to WHO. India’s contribution amounts toaround 0.45% while China’s accounts for 1.52%.
WHO allocated
African region and eastern Mediterranean regions more than a billion dollars
each
Of the total fundsreceived, WHO has allocated about $1.64 billion to the African region. Another$1.38 billion has been allocated to Eastern Mediterranean, and $982million tothe WHO Headquarters. South East Asia received $375.3 million while Europereceived $328.1 million. Western Pacific is allotted $282 million and Americasreceived $62.2 million.
More than 19.4% of the funds received, about $998.8 million has been allocated for polio eradication. 8.8% of the funds have been allotted for improving access to essential health and nutritional services, followed by 7% to vaccine-preventable diseases. About 4.6% has been allocated for operations and coordination support and 4.4% for prevention and control of outbreaks.
The distribution of a country’s contribution in terms of what is itspent on is available only for specified voluntary contributions. For instance,in the case of the USA, $553 million of specified contribution is fullydistributed. Out of this, 27.4% is used for Polio eradication, 5.74% forTuberculosis etc.
Trump halted
USA’s contribution to WHO alleging lack of transparency and slow response to
pandemic
During his pressconference on 14 April 2020, Donald Trump announced that he had asked his administration to halt fundingto WHO until a review assessment is conducted. Trump also stated that WHO wasmismanaging and covering up the spread of coronavirus. He also criticized WHOfor its pandemic response and blamed the organization for the delay indeclaring COVID-19 a public health emergency. WHO declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30January 2020.
Trump pointed outWHO’s tweet on 14 January 2020, which stated that preliminary tests conducted byChinese authorities found no clear evidence of human to human transmission ofthe virus.
Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China🇨🇳. pic.twitter.com/Fnl5P877VG
He alleged thatWHO lacked transparency and that WHO should have sent groups to study theground reality in China when the disease had initially broken out. However,Trump has been spotted blaming China for the outbreak multiple times.
‘WHO regrets
USA’s decision’ – Director general of WHO
WHO’s DirectorGeneral, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said during a press conference that they regrettedthe decision of US President to halt the funding. He added that WHO will beassessing how the programs will be affected by this decision and announce itofficially.
The decision takenby USA has not been welcomed by many as it has come at a time when the world ishit by one of the worst epidemics in the last few decades. Bill Gates, founderof Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation tweeted that USA’s decision during a world health crisis is as ‘dangerous as itsounds’.
Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds. Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever.
USA is the worst affected country till date
As on 23 April2020, WHO dashboard reveals that more than 25.5 lakh cases of COVID-19have been confirmed world-wide. The disease has claimed the lives of 1.75 lakhpersons across the globe. Of this, more than 8 lakh confirmed cases are fromUSA, which also accounted for more than 40,000 deaths. USA has reported thegreatest number of cases and deaths reported so far, even more than China andItaly, which are the early epicentres of the outbreak.