From health conditions in Gaza and fake medicines to NCDs and babies, WHO faces new funding realities as USAID withdrawal looms

GENEVA — The World Health Organization on Tuesday wrapped up its executive board meeting, held against the backdrop of the United States – by far its largest donor – heading for the exit.

The agenda-setting eight-day gathering at the WHO’s Geneva headquarters wrestled with the impact of US President Donald Trump’s January 20 decision to start the one-year process of withdrawing from the UN health agency.

“We are operating with twin strategic goals: to mobilise resources and to tighten our belts,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his closing remarks.

“We regret the announcement by the United States of its intention to withdraw, and it was also sad to see them participating less this week,” he said.

“I think we all felt their absence. We very much hope they will reconsider and we would welcome the opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue.”

The United States is on the executive board, but made only fleeting contributions throughout the eight-day event.

The board is composed of 34 member states, who nominate a board member who is technically qualified in health.

The board agrees the agenda and resolutions for the decision-making World Health Assembly in May.

“We have had to face new realities, with the announcement of the withdrawal of the US from the WHO,” said Barbados’s health minister Jerome Walcott, the board’s chair, as he closed the meeting.

“Despite the many challenges we faced, we have come together and found agreement on 40 decisions and seven resolutions, which aim to strengthen our work and to enhance good public health.