Geneva, 20 June 2025 – The world is facing a “health financing emergency,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has raised the alarm over dramatic cuts in international health aid that threaten to destabilize healthcare systems in low-income countries.
Speaking at a UN humanitarian briefing in Geneva, Dr. Kalipso Chalkidou, WHO’s Director for Health Financing and Economics, revealed that global health investment could drop by up to 40% in 2025, falling from $25 billion last year to just $15 billion – the lowest level in over a decade.
This sharp decline comes as major donors including the United States, several European governments, and EU bodies freeze or reduce health aid, citing domestic budget constraints. The impact is expected to be most severe in sub-Saharan Africa, where countries like Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe rely on external assistance for up to 30% of their health budgets.
“We are seeing disruptions to essential health services not experienced since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Chalkidou. “This is not just a funding issue—it is a threat to global health security.”
According to WHO, some countries now spend twice as much on servicing debt as they do on health, making it nearly impossible to reallocate resources internally. Since 2006, external aid per capita in low-income countries has consistently outpaced domestic health spending.
To address the crisis, WHO is calling for a multi-pronged response:
- Reduce aid dependency by improving domestic resource mobilization.
- Increase health-related taxes on products such as tobacco and alcohol.
- Work with multilateral banks to secure low-interest loans for essential health investments.
WHO officials will push for global commitments at the upcoming International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, where governments are expected to propose coordinated solutions.
The warning comes at a time when health systems are already under pressure from emerging diseases, aging populations, and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.