World Health Organization looks ahead to life without the US

LONDON/GENEVA - Hundreds of officials from the World Health Organisation will join donors and diplomats in Geneva from May 19 with one question dominating their thoughts - how to cope with crises from mpox to cholera without their main funder, the United States.

The annual assembly, with its week of sessions, votes and policy decisions, usually showcases the scale of the UN agency set up to tackle disease outbreaks, approve vaccines and support health systems worldwide.

In 2025 - since US President Donald Trump started the year-long process to leave the WHO with an executive order on his first day in office in January - the main theme is scaling down.

“Our goal is to focus on the high-value stuff,” Mr Daniel Thornton, the WHO’s director of coordinated resource mobilisation, told Reuters.

Just what that “high-value stuff” will be is up for discussion. Health officials have said the WHO’s work in providing guidelines for countries on new vaccines and treatments for conditions from obesity to HIV will remain a priority.

One WHO slideshow for the event, shared with donors and seen by Reuters, suggested work on approving new medicines and responding to outbreaks would be protected, while training programmes and offices in wealthier countries could be closed.

The United States had provided around 18 per cent of the WHO’s funding. “We’ve got to make do with what we have,” said one Western diplomat who asked not to be named.

Staff have been getting ready - cutting managers and budgets - ever since Mr Trump’s January announcement in a rush of directives and aid cuts that have disrupted a string of multilateral pacts and initiatives.

The year-long delay, mandated under US law, means the US is still a WHO member - its flag still flies outside the Geneva HQ - until