External health aid to drop by 30% in 2025, WHO urges countries to increase investment in health
NEW DELHI: The WHO on Monday warned that external health aid is projected to drop by 30% to 40% in 2025 compared with 2023, causing immediate and severe disruption to health services in low and middle income countries (LMICs). The WHO urged policy-makers to make health a political and fiscal priority in government budgets even during times of crisis.
Releasing survey data from 108 LMICs collected in March 2025, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it indicated that funding cuts have reduced critical services – including maternal care, vaccination, health emergency preparedness and response, and disease surveillance – by up to 70% in some countries.
More than 50 countries have reported job losses among health and care workers, along with major disruptions to health worker training programmes.
“Sudden and unplanned cuts to aid have hit many countries hard, costing lives and jeopardising hard-won health gains,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“But in the crisis lies an opportunity for countries to transition away from aid dependency towards sustainable self-reliance, based on domestic resources. WHO’s new guidance will help countries to better mobilize, allocate, prioritize and use funds to support the delivery of health services that protect the most vulnerable.”
The WHO warning has come at a time when global health funding has fallen to its lowest level in 15 years as several countries, including the US and some European countries, have announced reducing foreign aid.
While the US President Donald Trump has withdrawn his country from the World Health Organization (WHO) and slashed major health aid programs as soon as he took charge in January, nine European countries, including the UK and France, have also slashed its financial backing.
To cope with this sudden fund crunch, the WHO also released new guidance for countries on ways to counter the immediate and long-term effects of sudden and severe cuts to external funding, which are disrupting the delivery of essential health services in many countries.
The new guidance, called “Responding to the health financing emergency: immediate measures and longer-term shifts,” provides a suite of policy options for countries to cope with the sudden financing shocks, and bolster efforts to mobilize and implement sufficient and sustainable financing for national health systems.
