Following Germany’s health minister Karl Lauterbach’s meeting with the UN health agency’s head on February 2, it has been decided that Germany will pledge 130 million euros to the World Health Organization this year. As per the data from WHO, this announcement did not make it return to the top spot in terms of donation after Berlin, even though temporarily had overtaken the major historical contributor, Washington, in the last funding period, i.e., between 2020 and 2021, because of the Trump-era funding cuts.
As per what Karl Lauterbach had to say to the reporters following a meeting with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Geneva headquarters, they are happy to go ahead and pledge 130 million euros this year to WHO. He added on his official twitter handle that it is imperative WHO gets financially strengthened so that one is better equipped to fight the next pandemic.
The minister met the WHO Director-General on the sidelines of the executive board meeting of the top healthcare body, which happens to be seeking reinforcement when it comes to global health but is still unsure on how to do it. The World Health Organization’s funding system has a gap of $1 billion and is widely seen as wanting to go through a much-needed reform considering its over-reliance on donors.
Speaking on Berlin’s latest contribution, Tedros said that they do appreciate its strategic support. Apparently, Germany was one of the countries that helped Tedros, who hails from Ethiopia, get re-elected to a second term. The country has already contributed $776 million as per the latest findings against $1.12 billion which has been contributed by the United States, as per the WHO data. These figures, however, do not include the latest announcement on the funds.