Hundreds of World Health Organization officials will join donors and diplomats in Geneva from Monday with one question dominating their thoughts: How to tackle crises from mpox to cholera without their main funder, the United States.
The week-long annual assembly usually showcases the scale of the U.N. agency set up to tackle disease outbreaks, approve vaccines, and support health systems worldwide.
This year – since President Donald Trump started the year-long process to leave the WHO with an executive order on his first day in office in January – the main theme is scaling down.
“Our goal is to focus on the high-value stuff,” Daniel Thornton, the WHO’s director of coordinated resource mobilization, told Reuters.
Just what that “high-value stuff” will be is up for discussion. Health officials have said the WHO’s work in providing guidelines for countries on new vaccines and treatments for conditions from obesity to HIV will remain a priority.
One WHO slideshow for the event, shared with donors and seen by Reuters, suggested work on approving new medicines and responding to outbreaks would be protected, while training programs and offices in wealthier countries could be closed.
