Jakarta (Indonesia) (AFP) – The Indonesian Minister of Health, candidate for leadership of the World Health Organization, said he was in favor of an increase in countries' mandatory contributions to the WHO, financially weakened by the withdrawal of the United States, Monday in an interview with AFP.

Published on: 02/11/2026 - 11:55

According to Budi Gunadi Sadikin, WHO should focus on redirecting its spending rather than seeking alternative funding, allocating larger amounts to fewer projects.

“The priority is to review the functions (of the WHO), to obtain the agreement of the countries, then (...) to seek new funding,” declared the minister, candidate to succeed the Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the head of the institution since 2017 and reappointed in 2022.

“All countries say that the WHO must be sustainable. However, we cannot be sustainable if the contributions of Member States represent only 20 or 30%” of the total budget, he added.

“If you want to ensure sustainability, then, at the very least, regular funding (...) should represent more than 50% of the total,” argued the 62-year-old Indonesian minister.

China has become the main contributor to the WHO in terms of obligatory contributions, after the withdrawal of the United States decided by Donald Trump upon his return to the White House.

Beijing, however, remains far from being among the top contributors in terms of voluntary contributions, the organization's main source of financing.

Raising the threshold for mandatory contributions to 50% would not be too restrictive for countries, Mr. Budi further emphasized.

“I saw the figures (...) We are not talking about billions, or even a hundred million. It is not an important figure,” he declared.

Spread out among more than 100 member countries, this effort would represent tens of thousands of US dollars for each, he assured.

Mr. Budi is one of seven candidates to lead the WHO, facing competitors from Botswana, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Spain and China.

The WHO Executive Board will nominate up to three candidates to submit to the World Health Assembly, which will choose in May 2027.

Budget reduced by more than 20%, hundreds of jobs eliminated, programs reduced, the WHO had to urgently reform in depth last year, weakened by budget cuts in multilateral aid and the American withdrawal.

For several months, however, the head of the WHO has assured that the organization has completed its process of redefining its priorities and that it is “stabilized”.

discussions with Washington

For Mr. Budi, the United States' withdrawal does not constitute "a total catastrophe" for the organization, which has maintained a budget comparable to that it had before the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to him, any country that is not a member "will find itself at a disadvantage" in the event of a global health emergency.

“It is very clear that we must bring them back,” said the minister, adding that he would begin discussions with Washington “without delay” if he was elected.

He will also advocate for WHO member states to adopt a global treaty on pandemics, with a fund to support it.

The objective would be to guarantee “everyone the same right of access” to vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tools if a new global pandemic were to occur.

The WHO is "not ready" to deal with a new global epidemic outbreak, the Indonesian minister said, adding that it was not doing enough to manage the deadliest Ebola epidemic in history in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

© 2026 AFP

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