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The United States has still not paid its membership fee arrears at the World Health Organisation, the WHO chief said on Wednesday, even though settling its debt is a condition for completing its withdrawal from the agency.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he hoped the United States would pay the money it owes.
“In terms of the arrears from the US, the US withdrawal is conditioned with two things,” Tedros told a press conference with the UN correspondents’ association ACANU.
“One is notification one year in advance, which is actually met. And the second is paying the arrears, so we hope they will do that but we haven’t received anything yet.”
No signals from Washington
Tedros said there were “no signals” indicating that Washington would pay the arrears.
But he added: “To be honest, it’s not about the money.”
“The issue is health security needs universality and the US, by withdrawing, makes itself unsafe and makes the rest of the world unsafe. So it’s lose-lose.”
“So our focus is not on the money. The focus is on helping the US to understand and reconsider.”
Credit: Politico
Withdrawal notice expired
US President Donald Trump handed the WHO a one-year withdrawal notice on his first day back in office in January 2025. The notice period has now expired, but Washington has still not paid its 2024 or 2025 dues, owing approximately $260 million.
The United States was traditionally the biggest donor to the WHO budget.
Decision pending at WHO assembly
Though the US flag no longer flies outside the WHO headquarters in Geneva, the WHO’s decision-making body – the annual assembly of member states – will decide on the US withdrawal when it meets from May 18 to 23.
The WHO constitution does not include a withdrawal clause. However, the United States reserved the right to withdraw when it joined the WHO in 1948 on condition of giving one year’s notice and meeting its financial obligations in full for that fiscal year.
US officials still in contact
In January, as the notice expired, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticised the WHO. Kennedy claimed the agency had “tarnished and trashed everything that America has done for it.”
“The reverse is true,” the WHO responded at the time.
Despite the criticism, Kennedy still speaks with Tedros on a regular basis.
“We keep in touch every now and then,” Tedros told reporters.
