Global Health Funding Hits 15-Year Low
(MENAFN) International financial support for global health initiatives has plunged to its lowest point in a decade and a half, largely due to reductions in foreign aid by the United States and multiple European nations.
This trend has triggered serious concerns among public health professionals, who caution that the global community is becoming increasingly unprepared to face potential pandemics, according to media reports released on Sunday.
President Donald Trump has resumed his presidency by taking significant steps away from global health cooperation.
One of his first actions after returning to office was to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization (WHO) and dramatically reduce funding to key health aid programs.
This move marks a continuation of his administration’s skepticism toward multilateral institutions.
In addition to the U.S., nine European nations—many of them major contributors to international aid—have also cut back on their overseas support.
These countries have cited shifting national priorities, such as defense spending and economic pressures, as reasons for the decline.
The Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation reported a steep drop in global health funding, which fell from $80 billion in 2021 to below $40 billion this year.
The U.S. alone slashed its contribution by 67%, amounting to a reduction of more than $9 billion.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom and France also made substantial cuts of around 40% and 33%, respectively.
“There’s not a lot one can see geopolitically that would give people confidence that this is a great moment for cooperation,” a media outlet quoted Thomas Bollyky, director of global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, as saying.
The Trump administration’s deep-seated mistrust of the United Nations (UN) and the WHO has played a significant role in the ongoing shift away from international collaboration.
On the day he re-entered office, Trump declared that the U.S. would cease its annual $640 million funding to the WHO, a move that underscored the broader retreat from global health partnerships.
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