WHO Opens Annual Assembly as UN Health Agency Faces ‘Existential Crisis’ in Wake of US Funding Cuts 

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (R) talks with Swiss Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider during the opening of the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 19 May 2025. (EPA)
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (R) talks with Swiss Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider during the opening of the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 19 May 2025. (EPA)
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WHO Opens Annual Assembly as UN Health Agency Faces ‘Existential Crisis’ in Wake of US Funding Cuts 

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (R) talks with Swiss Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider during the opening of the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 19 May 2025. (EPA)
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (R) talks with Swiss Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider during the opening of the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 19 May 2025. (EPA)

The World Health Organization on Monday opened its annual meeting of government ministers and other top envoys facing one of the most serious crises of its 77-year history in the wake of Trump administration funding cuts and plans to withdraw the United States.

The UN health agency this year has seen a plunge in its ability to carry out its sweeping mandate to do everything from recommend reductions in sugar levels in soft drinks to head the global response to pandemics like COVID-19 or outbreaks like polio or Ebola.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been grappling with a response to the US cuts as well as reduced outlays from other traditional Western donors who are putting more money toward defense and less toward humanitarian aid.

Matthew Kavanagh, the director of Georgetown University’s center for Global Health Policy and Politics, said other countries have used the “US disruption” — the cut in aid — “as cover to do their maneuvering, with many countries in Europe reducing aid.”

“The WHO faces an existential crisis that goes well beyond a budget gap to the question of whether this sort of multilateralism can succeed in addressing global health in this new era of nationalism and misinformation,” he said.

“Literally millions will likely die needlessly on the current trajectory and the world’s health ministers do not seem capable of a coherent response,” Kavanagh added.

On tap for the nine-day World Health Assembly are two major advances that are aimed to buttress WHO’s financial strength and bolster the world’s ability to cope with pandemics in the future.

Member countries are expected to agree to raise annual dues, known as “assessed contributions,” by 20% to support WHO finances and reduce dependency on governments’ voluntary contributions, which change each year and make up over half of the budget.

They are also expected to agree to a hard-wrought “pandemic treaty” that was born of a desire to avoid any replay of the patchy, unequal response to COVID-19 when the next — and inevitable, most experts say — pandemic hits.

Among other things, the treaty would guarantee that countries that share critical samples of viruses will receive any resulting tests, medicines and vaccines and give WHO up to 20% of such products to make sure poorer countries can have access to them.

Tedros calls the treaty “truly historic” and said it “can make the world safer” by boosting collaboration to prepare for, prevent and respond to pandemics.

The treaty’s effectiveness will face doubts when the US, which poured billions into speedy work by pharmaceutical companies to develop COVID-19 vaccines, is sitting out, and because countries face no penalties if they ignore it, a common issue in international law.

Kavanagh said passage of the treaty “could be a significant victory — evidence that the US government may no longer be indispensable in global health” and could offer an opportunity for developing nations in the “global South” over the longer term.

In the run-up to the assembly, WHO has been cleaning house and cutting costs. Its management has presented a budget for the next two years at just under $4.3 billion, which is 22% less than originally planned, largely in response to Western funding cuts.

At a meeting on its budget last week, Tedros, a former Ethiopian health and foreign minister, announced a shake-up of top management that included the exit of key adviser Dr. Michael Ryan from the job as emergencies chief.

Tedros said last week that the loss of US funds and other assistance have left the WHO with a salary gap of more than $500 million. WHO is “confident” that it has commitments for 60% of funds for the next two-year budget cycle, but it faces a budget gap of $1.7 billion.



Trump Says US Has Given Ukraine Too Many Weapons in First Public Comments on Pause in Shipments

A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)
A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)
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Trump Says US Has Given Ukraine Too Many Weapons in First Public Comments on Pause in Shipments

A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)
A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)

President Donald Trump complained Thursday that the United States provided too many weapons to Ukraine under the previous administration, his first public comments on the pause in some shipments as Russia escalates its latest offensive.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One for a flight to Iowa, Trump said former President Joe Biden "emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves."

Air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons are among those being withheld from Ukraine. The country suffered a new barrage overnight, with warnings of ballistic missiles followed by explosions in Kyiv. The sound of machine gun fire and drone engines could be heard across the capital.

Trump, who also spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, suggested he wasn't completely cutting off American assistance to Ukraine.

"We've given so many weapons," he said, adding that "we are working with them and trying to help them."

Trump said he had a "pretty long call" with Putin that "didn't make any progress" in resolving the war, which the Republican president had promised to swiftly bring to a conclusion.

"I’m not happy about that," he said.

The Kremlin described the conversation as "frank and constructive" — the sixth publicly disclosed chat between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House.

While discussing the situation around Iran and in the broader Middle East, Putin emphasized the need to resolve all differences "exclusively by political and diplomatic means," said Yuri Ushakov, his foreign affairs adviser.

The leaders agreed that Russian and US officials will maintain contact on the issue, he added.

The United States struck three sites in Iran on June 22, inserting itself into Israel’s war aimed at destroying Tehran's nuclear program.

On the conflict in Ukraine, Ushakov said Trump emphasized his push for a quick halt to the fighting, and Putin voiced Moscow’s readiness to pursue talks with Kyiv, noting the previous rounds in Türkiye yielded humanitarian results.

At the same time, the Russian leader emphasized that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the "root causes" of the conflict, Ushakov said.

"Russia will not back down from these goals," Ushakov told reporters after the call.

Putin has argued he sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to fend off a threat to Russia posed by Ukraine's push to join NATO and to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine — arguments rejected by Kyiv and its allies. He insisted that any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine abandon its NATO bid and recognize Russia's territorial gains.

Ushakov said a suspension of some US weapons shipments to Ukraine wasn’t discussed in the Trump-Putin call.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Denmark after meeting with major European Union backers that he may talk to Trump in the coming days about the suspension.

"I hope that maybe tomorrow, or close days, these days, I will speak about it with President Trump," he said.

The previous publicly known call between Trump and Putin came June 14, a day after Israel attacked Iran.

The resumed contact between Trump and Putin appeared to reflect their interest in mending US-Russian ties that have plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War.

Ushakov said the leaders discussed developments in Syria and expressed interest in pursuing bilateral projects in the energy sector and space exploration, during what he described as "frank, businesslike and concrete conversation."

The Kremlin adviser added that Putin even suggested that the US and Russia could exchange movies promoting "traditional values shared by us and the Trump administration."

On Tuesday, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first direct telephone call in almost three years.