Who funds the WHO?

Why we must #ExitTheWHO

To understand the WHO, we must understand its funding.

Currently the World Health Organization only has full control over 1/4 of their budget, the rest comes with ties that bind.

How is WHO funded? The World Health Organization gets its funding from member states via assessed membership dues, alongside additional voluntary donations from the member states and other partners like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GAVI, Wellcome Trust, etc. Member countries pay what are called “assessed contributions,” a percentage of a country’s GDP agreed upon every two years at the World Health Assembly. Usually, these funds cover less than 20% of WHO’s total budget. That means over 80% of WHO’s funding relies on “voluntary contributions,” meaning any amount of money given freely by donors, whether member states, NGOs, philanthropic organisations or other private entities. These voluntary contributions are typically earmarked for specific projects or diseases, meaning WHO cannot freely decide how to use them.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is responsible for over 88% of the total amount donated by philanthropic foundations to the WHO. Other contributors include the Bloomberg Family Foundation (3.5%), the Wellcome Trust (1.1%) and the Rockefeller Foundation (0.8%). The total budget of the World Health Organization has changed over the years, but the Gates Foundation consistently remains among its top contributors. In 2018-2019, the United States was the largest donor at $893 million, accounting for around 15% of WHO’s budget. The Gates Foundation came only second, with $531 millions. In 2020-2021, The Gates Foundation donated 751 millions to the WHO, while United States were third at 693 millions.

What are the implications of private sources of funding? Should we be concerned with conflicts of interests? Is it ethical for a global health organization to rely so much on NGOs, private donors and funds clearly earmarked with specific goals in mind? Is the global health agenda of the WHO compromised by the ties to its private donors? What is Bill Gates’ sphere of influence on the WHO?

These are just few of the questions, the World Health Organizations must answer. The member states should be the ones asking this, but in their absence, we the people are doing it.