Who Funds the World Health Organization? Who calls the shots at WHO? Let’s find out.

In times of pandemics like Sars-CoV-2, many eyes are on WHO. The United States of America just stopped funding to the WHO which raises the question of how to finance the World Health Organization. Find out Who funds the World Health Organization.

The old saying ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune’, seems true in many different cases, but the case of Covid-19, WHO, China and the rest of the world. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people are interested in the question of who is WHO, who funds WHO, and is it independent and neutral.

The financing of the World Health Organization can certainly be revealing. For the period from 2018 to the end of 2019, the WHO had at least around $ 4.4 billion at its disposal. The USA contributed around $893 million apart from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which donated $531 million to become the second biggest contributor. 

There are increasing voices accusing the WHO of not acting impartially. The concerns stem primarily from the health organization’s money sources like the USA. But how is the WHO actually financed? Let’s find out.

In principle, the WHO is financed through two sources of money. One of the sources of money is the 194 member states of the World Health Organization. Each state pays a fixed membership fee, which is made up of the population and above all the prosperity of the respective country.

The USA is and has remained one of the largest donor countries with around 15 percent, followed by Great Britain with 7.8 percent and Germany with 5.67 percent. However, the contribution levels of the member states have not been adjusted since 1993. That should be one of the reasons why the share of the member states in the financing of the WHO is only between 20 and 25 percent of the total budget. 

This is how WHO’s further funding is made up

The name Bill Gates is often mentioned in connection with the financing of the World Health Organization and that is not entirely unjustified. In fact, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a significant donor to the WHO with around ten percent of the total donation, the Gates Foundation is the second-largest financier of the health organization after the USA.

The WHO’s second major non-governmental donor is the Gavi Vaccination Alliance. The vaccine alliance was formerly called Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization which is easy to understand what the organization is about. In addition to various non-governmental organizations and private donors, the Gavi vaccination alliance also includes UNICEF, WHO, Health Research Institutions, and the World Bank. Some countries such as Germany and France are also among the donors.

The Gavi members are particularly exciting in this context. The vaccine alliance Gavi also donates to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, several hundred million US dollars along with the vaccine manufacturers from industrialized and developing countries. 

The Gavi Vaccination Alliance, based in Geneva, contributes over eight percent to the World Health Organization’s finances. Taken together with the contribution of the Gates Foundation, this accounts for almost 20 percent of the funding of the World Health Organization. The fact that the name Bill Gates is often used in connection with the World Health Organization is not entirely unjustified. Since the donations to the WHO are mostly made available for a specific purpose, Gates certainly has a certain influence over using the money for making the world healthier. However, this also applies to the other larger contributors. 

Also Read – Is Germany Going To Fall On Its Knees In The Wake Of The Coronavirus Epidemic? What’ll Ms. Merkel Do Now?

Incidentally, the name Covid-19 has brought the World Health Organization into the witness box for being impartial towards the suffering countries and favoring China. WHO has constantly denied the claims that China had any hand in spreading the disease worldwide which will have a significant impact upon its funding next fiscal year.

Now you know Who funds the World Health Organization and what the money is used for but it is still unclear what would WHO gain by favoring china.