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The World Health Organization appealed Tuesday for $1 billion to respond to major health emergencies in 2026.
It warned that funding cuts have forced thousands of health facilities to close or scale back services, leaving millions without access to care, AA reported
“A quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections: safety, shelter and access to health care,” Chikwe Ihekweazu, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, told a press briefing in Geneva.
He said health needs are surging, driven by injuries, disease outbreaks, malnutrition and untreated chronic diseases, while access to care continues to shrink.
Ihekweazu said the 2026 appeal aims to cover 36 crises, including the Gaza Strip and the Middle East, Sudan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and Myanmar.
“Already, 2025 was an exceptionally difficult year,” he said, adding that global funding cuts forced 6,700 health facilities in 22 humanitarian settings to either close or reduce services, cutting 53 million people off from health care.
He said families are facing “impossible decisions, such as whether to buy food or medicine,” adding, “People should never have to make these choices.”
Ihekweazu said the WHO responded last year to 50 emergencies in 82 countries, reaching more than 30 million people, supporting more than 8,000 facilities, and deploying more than 1,400 mobile clinics.
“Health is priceless,” he said. “Today, we again invite the world to invest in health.”
The United States, a top donor to the WHO, officially withdrew from the organization in January.
According to the organization report, funding cuts directly affected 5687 health facilities across 20 humanitarian settings, including 2038 that suspended operations, reducing access to services for 53.3 million people (65% of the 81.4 million people targeted for humanitarian health assistance).
Funding cuts placed 73% of Health Cluster human resource capacity at risk, undermining coordination and joint and equitable service delivery within countries.
WHO’s Health Emergency Appeals are annual funding calls that set priorities, targets and resource needs for delivering essential health services in humanitarian emergencies.
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