Senator the Honourable Michael Joseph has warned that major funding cuts to the World Health Organization (WHO) could have serious consequences for global health initiatives, including programmes that benefit the Caribbean.

His remarks follow the withdrawal of the United States and Argentina from the WHO—moves he described as deeply consequential.

“This year’s World Health Assembly… was for the very first time that the U.S. wasn’t at the seat,” Joseph said during a recent ABS interview.

“The U.S. contributes about $300 million to the annual budget of WHO… so having that removed means WHO is now looking at cutting about 1,500 to 2,000 employees… and that has implications for programmes throughout the entire world.”

Joseph, who represented Antigua and Barbuda alongside Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kamara De Castro at the 78th WHA in Geneva, explained that the funding gap is already affecting the WHO’s global reach, including support for smaller developing countries like those in the Caribbean.

Despite the uncertainty, there was a glimmer of hope.

“We had the Chinese government step up at the WHA and say, ‘We’re going to contribute 500 million U.S. dollars to the budget over the next three years,’” Joseph revealed. “So this is about 150 million U.S. additional that they’ve gotten.”

He added that other global actors were being encouraged to contribute.

“The WHA was making this argument that we need more countries like the European Union to step forward, the Arab countries to step forward, and to make greater pledges.”

In the face of WHO’s budget concerns, Joseph stressed the continued importance of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which remains active in the region.

“There hasn’t been any indication from the U.S. of the intent to step out of PAHO… so we’re still quite faithful that we will have those programmes… remaining in the Caribbean.”

Joseph emphasised the importance of multilateralism and bilateral cooperation in securing regional health outcomes.

“More and more countries are stepping up and saying, ‘We can’t let this impact us,’ because if we don’t do more, we’re going to have severe implications.”