People in at least 70 countries are missing out on medical treatment due to funding cuts to aid programmes, the WHO said on Monday, adding it also faces major financial challenges, APA reports citing Reuters.
"Patients are missing out on treatments, health facilities have closed, health workers have lost their jobs, and people face increased out-of-pocket health spending," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an address to the World Health Assembly.
"Many ministers have told me that sudden and steep cuts to bilateral aid are causing severe disruption in their countries, and imperiling the health of millions of people," Tedros added.
Tedros said that states should consider spending more money on global health, at a time when defense expenditure is increasing: "Countries spend vast sums protecting themselves against attacks from other countries, but relatively little on protecting themselves from an invisible enemy that can cause far more damage."
WHO has revised down its budget to 4.2 billion dollars for the next two years - 2.1 billion a year.
"2.1 billion dollars is the equivalent of global military expenditure every eight hours," Tedros told delegates.
He added that the WHO has already taken steps to cut its workforce, budget and the scope of its work. Last week it cut half of its senior leadership team.
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