WHO Wants $1 Bn For World's Worst Health Crises In 2026

 

Geneva : The World Health Organisation on Tuesday appealed for $1 billion to tackle health crises this year across the world's 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan. Hit by deep cuts in foreign aid from wealthy countries, the WHO made its emergency request significantly lower than in recent years, saying it had to be realistic about how much money would arrive.

 

"We are deeply worried about the vast needs and how we will meet them," WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva. "We are making some of the hardest choices we have to make." The WHO estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year, and said the money would keep essential health services afloat.

 

"A quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections: safety, shelter and access to health care," Ihekweazu said. "In these settings, health needs are surging, whether due to injuries, disease outbreaks, malnutrition or untreated chronic diseases," he warned.

Washington, traditionally the UN health agency's biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country's one-year withdrawal notice. Last year, the WHO appealed for $1.5 billion, but Ihekweazu said only $900 million came through -- below 2016 levels.

 

"We've calibrated our ask a little bit more towards what is available realistically, understanding the situation around the world, the constraints that many countries have," he said.

The 2026 priority emergency responses also include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, plus ongoing cholera and mpox outbreaks. Ihekweazu said if the funding does not come through, it "absolutely" leaves the world more vulnerable to epidemics and pandemics. "Imagining that these challenges will somehow disappear without global solidarity is wishful thinking," he said.

The consequences might be not only severe for them but severe for the world." Last year's top emergency donors were the European Union, Germany, Japan, Italy and Britain. Ihekweazu said the immediate response to the appeal was "quite encouraging".