The World Health Organization(WHO) is based in Geneva,Switzerland and is an agency of the United Nations. WHO is responsible for international public health. The agency tracks global public health crises from epidemics to pandemics and everything in between. It also acts a conduit for sharing critical information between countries with regards to health. For example, the WHO is tracking the COVID-19 crisis and has created a dashboard to track cases across the world.
The WHO is under increased scrutiny these days with the US threatening to cut funding. The US is the top contributor to the WHO. So any reduction in contributions would have an adverse effect on the operations of WHO. Whether the US is trying to truly shift its failings and disastrous management of the current crisis on some other organization such as the WHO or if the WHO failed to perform its duties is a question of debate.
To add some perspective on the sources of funding for WHO it is important to look at the top contributing countries. The US was the top contributor last year and it was also assesses about $58 million this year. The assessed amount must be paid by each country in addition to any voluntary contribution. China is the second top contributor followed at about half the US amount and Japan is the third as shown in the chart below:
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Source: RFE/RL Infographics
Update (6/6):
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Source: The BBC
Update (7/14/20):
Source: WHO struggles to prove itself in the face of Covid-19, FT, July 12, 2020
