Germany steps up global health funding with €1b as US cancels support

For many years the United States (US) has been the leading contributor to global health funding that catered for among others malaria and HIV. But the second Trump administration has cancelled its global international development assistance shutting down USAID, the US international development assistance agency.

Germany has however stepped up its global health funding committing €1 billion ($1.16 billion) over the next three years to support the global fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, Development Minister Reem Alabali-Radovan said on Sunday at the start of a World Health Summit in Berlin.

“With this, we are sending an important signal: Germany will continue to engage in protecting people worldwide from diseases,” Alabali-Radovan said, confirming the country’s 2026–2028 financing support for the Global Fund.

Alabali-Radovan said this commitment was achieved despite painful budget cuts and significant financial pressures within the ministry.

She said combating major infectious diseases is not only a humanitarian imperative but also a matter of common sense, as pathogens know no borders.

“Every euro invested in the fund pays off. It strengthens the health systems of partner countries and makes the world more resilient. This way, we save millions of lives,” she said.

The United States was historically the WHO’s largest donor. It gave the WHO nearly $1 billion in fixed as well as voluntary contributions in 2022-23.

The withdrawal put the WHO’s budget in crisis. The organization was short nearly of $1.9 billion from a planned $4.2 billion budget for 2026-27, along with a $600 million deficit through end-2025, according to senior WHO officials.

The $1.9 billion gap put the WHO short nearly 45% of the funding it needs to run even on a reduced budget of $4.2 billion that had been planned for the upcoming 2026-2027 budget period, according to the WHO official in charge of Planning, Resource Coordination, and Performance Monitoring, Imre Hollo. 

Meanwhile, the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden never paid the US 2024 dues of $130 million owed before leaving office, Raul Thomas, Assistant Director General of Business Operations had said. 

It has been reported that altogether, the US owed $260 million in dues for 2024-25 – funds that the WHO was unlikely to ever retrieve from the Donald Trump administration despite a legal obligation to pay. Trump announced in January that he was pulling out of the global health agency, but the withdrawal will be effective January 2026 as the US is obliged to give a year’s notice.  

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is the largest multilateral grant provider in the health sector for low-income countries founded in 2002. It is funded by governments, foundations and private donors.

According to the German Development Ministry, the goal of the current funding round is to save more than 23 million additional lives. Germany’s pledge includes €100 million in debt swaps.

The World Health Summit was set to formally open in Berlin on Sunday evening.

By Emmanuel K Dogbevi with additional files from the dpa

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