Nigeria, April 23 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Tuesday that it will reduce its staff and scale back operations due to a major funding shortfall.

This move comes after the United States stopped paying its agreed contributions for 2024 and 2025, and plans to completely withdraw support next January.

The US, which has long been the largest contributor to the UN health agency, has also frozen most of its global foreign aid.

The lack of US support, combined with cuts from other countries that usually provide development aid, has put WHO in a tight financial spot.

According to WHO's Director-General, the agency now faces a funding gap between $560 million and $650 million for the 2026-27 period, which affects about a ...