The World Health Organization (WHO) is implementing a hiring freeze and reducing travel expenses in reaction to the impending withdrawal of the United States, its largest financial contributor. This information was revealed by an internal email acquired by POLITICO.

The Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed his disappointment over the decision in an email sent to the staff on Thursday night. He stated, “The United States of America has signaled its intention to withdraw its membership from WHO. We are saddened by this resolution and remain hopeful that the new regime will reconsider it.”

The impending withdrawal of the US has exacerbated the financial strain on WHO and has led to significant apprehension and uncertainty among its workforce. To mitigate the financial impact, WHO has decided to halt recruitment activities, barring those in critical areas, and has also planned to substantially decrease travel expenditure.

Moving forward, all meetings are to be conducted virtually, except under exceptional circumstances. Furthermore, missions aimed at providing technical support to countries will be restricted to only the most essential ones.

Additional cost-cutting measures include restricting the replacement of IT equipment, renegotiating major contracts, and suspending office renovations and capital investments, except in cases where it is necessary for security reasons or to reduce costs.

As an investor or someone interested in global health affairs, understanding the implications of such a major funding change is crucial. However, the focus of this article is not investment advice, but to provide insights into the significant operational changes at WHO in response to the US’s withdrawal.

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