$2.54 billion needed to tackle unprecedented health needs in 2023: WHO – Saudi Gazette

$2.54 billion needed to tackle unprecedented health needs in 2023: WHO – Saudi Gazette

GENEVA — Two-and-a-half billion dollars: that’s how much funding the UN World Health Organization (WHO) will need across its operations this year, it said on Monday, to help a record number of people facing disease and starvation.

In its appeal, the WHO said that a staggering 339 million people now need humanitarian assistance globally.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the UN agency’s director-general, urged donors “to be generous” and help WHO to save lives, prevent the spread of disease within and across borders, and support communities as they rebuild.

Today, WHO staff are providing assistance in 54 health crises around the world, 11 of which are classified as Grade 3, WHO’s highest level of emergency, requiring the most comprehensive response.

“As it is often the case, the most vulnerable are the worst-hit,” the UN agency said in a statement.

The UN agency is already working in an “unprecedented” number of emergencies, from the fall-out of devastating flooding in Pakistan, to catastrophic food insecurity across the Sahel and in the greater Horn of Africa.

The WHO is also heavily involved in alleviating suffering in Ukraine following the Russian invasion and it continues to work in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and northern Ethiopia, where conflict, COVID-19 and climate change have dangerously