The United States, the World Health Organization's top donor, is resisting proposals to make the agency more independent, four officials involved in the talks said, raising doubts about the Biden administration's long-term support for the U.N. agency.
The proposal, made by the WHO's working group on sustainable financing, would increase each member state's standing annual contribution, according to a WHO document published online and dated Jan. 4.
Four European officials involved in the talks, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed the U.S. opposition. The U.S. government had no immediate comment. Supporters say that the current reliance on voluntary funding from member states and from charities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation forces the WHO to focus on priorities set by the funders, and makes it less able to criticise members when things go wrong.
The proposal is to be discussed at the WHO's executive board meeting next week but the divisions mean no agreement is expected, three of the officials said. One European official said the U.S. plan "causes scepticism among many countries", and said the creation of a new structure controlled by donors, rather than by the WHO, would weaken the agency's ability to combat future pandemics.Former president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the WHO after accusing it of defending China's initial delays in sharing information when COVID-19 emerged there in 2019.
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