When the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization goes into effect Thursday, the world’s largest economy will be leaving the global health agency with a hefty unpaid bill.
The U.S. has not made good on its assessed contributions for the past two years — including the final year of the Biden administration — effectively stiffing the WHO on a bill of roughly $278 million. In addition, several hundred million dollars in promised voluntary contributions for 2025 — and to a lesser extent for 2024 — have also not been delivered. Voluntary contributions are earmarked funds a country provides the WHO to support work that is of particular interest to that country.
