The World Health Organization (WHO) announced another 20-percent increase in its mandatory membership fees, a move a consumer group says places a heavy and unjust burden on developing countries.
The Consumer Choice Center (CCC), an international consumer advocacy group, said the increase would amount to an additional $120 million per year for 2026 and 2027. The CCC said these “contributions” represent a significant amount for developing countries, potentially diverting funds from other priorities.
Historically, the WHO budget has been primarily funded by voluntary contributions designated by donors for specific programs. Mandatory annual membership fees, known as assessed contributions, provide the WHO with more flexible funding.
The CCC said while global healthcare systems face challenges from underfunding, growing waitlists, and staff shortages, the WHO is “redirecting hundreds of millions of dollars into flexible, unaccountable funding streams it controls without oversight.”
The group alleged that unlike voluntary contributions, annual membership fees grant WHO leadership, particularly Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, significant discretion in how funds are spent.
The CCC said this approach “might explain why more money is being used to upgrade the WHO’s Geneva headquarters than to fight polio.”
The group also highlighted senior staff allowances, including $33,000-per-child education allowances, which it noted could fund life-saving HIV treatment for 110 South Africans for a full year.
The CCC reported the average annual cost of employing the WHO’s 301 most senior staff as nearly $130 million, or about $432,000 per person, including benefits and allowances.
Following financial pressure on the WHO, particularly after the U.S. withdrawal, member states approved a 20-percent increase in membership fees when endorsing the organization’s 2026–2027 budget of $4.2 billion during the 78th World Health Assembly held in Geneva on May 20, 2025. WHO budgets are approved biennially by member states.
The CCC, to illustrate what it terms the “opportunity cost of the WHO’s bloated bureaucracy,” estimates that the additional $120 million in annual membership dues could directly fund healthcare for 15,000 Germans, 40,000 Poles, 82,000 Georgians, 100,000 South Africans, and 500,000 Indians.
Planned WHO budget expenditures include a building extension for the agency’s headquarters in Geneva. The city is noted for its high construction costs. Geneva will also host the upcoming 11th Conference of Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in November, an event that has previously faced criticism regarding transparency and impartiality.
“It’s time to stop pretending that the WHO is a lean, targeted health response team,” the CCC said. “It has become, in too many respects, a bloated bureaucracy more focused on expanding its institutional footprint than solving the world’s most urgent health problems.”
The WHO recently terminated the contract of Takeshi Kasai, former head of its Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) in Manila, following an internal investigation into allegations of abusive conduct.
Kasai, who had led WPRO since 2019, was accused of fostering a toxic work environment, including making derogatory remarks toward Filipino staff. The WHO confirmed that its findings showed misconduct, and the termination followed a vote by member states of the region.
WHO regional directors operate with a notable degree of autonomy and authority, a characteristic that contrasts with the structure of some other United Nations agencies.
The Western Pacific office alone oversees a population of 1.9 billion across 37 territories. While the WHO has not released details of the internal investigation into Kasai, it confirmed last year that he was placed on leave and temporarily replaced by WHO Deputy Director-General Zsuzsanna Jakab.
Saia Ma’u Piukala, a public health leader from Tonga, assumed office as the new regional director in February 2024.
The situation has generated renewed focus on the governance structure of the WHO and the level of oversight applied to its regional leadership as the organization prepares for major global policy discussions.
The CCC said the shift toward “core funding” is part of what it views as a deliberate WHO strategy “to move away from specific, donor-driven initiatives and toward general budget increases it can spend at will — on salaries, travel, and yes, real estate.”
The consumer group criticized what it described as funds being “funneled into a top-heavy administrative structure with minimal transparency and questionable accountability,” rather than being allocated for programs such as pandemic preparedness or child vaccination.
After becoming the WHO’s top donor following the U.S. decision to leave the international organization, China has expressed its uneasiness with the planned membership fee increase.
“China does not have clear information on the specific amount of assessed contribution increase or how it will be calculated for the coming year,” China’s representative told the WHO Executive Board during the 78th WHA. “It is difficult for any country to agree to such a plan under such opacity.”
The CCC urged national governments to refuse further increases to assessed contributions until the WHO commits to what the group calls radical transparency reforms, trims senior compensation packages, and rededicates itself to programmatic funding that prioritizes patient care.
“The WHO doesn’t deserve a raise. The world’s patients do,” the CCC said.
