WHO Launches $1bn Global Appeal to Deliver Health Care in Crises

The appeal aims to support WHO’s response to 36 health emergencies worldwide, including 14 Grade 3 emergencies—the most severe crises requiring the highest level of organizational response.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched its 2026 global humanitarian health appeal, seeking nearly US$1 billion to ensure millions of people living through conflict, displacement and disaster can access essential health care.

The appeal aims to support WHO’s response to 36 health emergencies worldwide, including 14 Grade 3 emergencies—the most severe crises requiring the highest level of organizational response.

“This appeal is a call to stand with people living through conflict, displacement and disaster,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “It is not charity. It is a strategic investment in health and security. Access to health care restores dignity, stabilizes communities and offers a pathway toward recovery.”

Impact of Emergency Health Funding in 2025

In 2025, WHO and its partners supported 30 million people through its annual emergency appeal. That funding enabled:

• 5.3 million children to receive life-saving vaccinations

• 53 million health consultations

• Support for over 8,000 health facilities

• Deployment of 1,370 mobile clinics in hard-to-reach areas

Despite these achievements, funding constraints significantly limited reach.

Growing Needs, Shrinking Resources

The 2026 appeal comes amid converging global pressures, including protracted conflicts, escalating climate impacts and recurring infectious disease outbreaks—at a time when humanitarian financing is declining.

In 2025, global humanitarian funding fell below 2016 levels, forcing WHO and partners to reach only one-third of the 81 million people originally targeted for humanitarian health assistance.

“Renewed commitment and solidarity are urgently needed to protect people in the world’s most fragile settings,” WHO said.

Priority Emergencies for 2026

WHO’s priority emergency response areas next year include:

• Afghanistan

• Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Haiti

• Myanmar

• Occupied Palestinian territory

• Somalia

• South Sudan

• Sudan

• Syrian Arab Republic

• Ukraine

• Yemen

The appeal also covers ongoing outbreaks of cholera and mpox, which continue to pose serious public health risks.

Coordinating Global Health Response

As the lead agency for health in humanitarian settings, WHO coordinates more than 1,500 partners across 24 crisis settings, ensuring national authorities and local partners remain central to emergency responses.

Speaking at the launch, Ambassador Noel White, Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva, said: “Every humanitarian crisis is a health crisis,” noting Ireland’s support through flexible funding to WHO’s Contingency Fund for Emergencies.

Norway also called for stronger backing. Marita Sørheim-Rensvik, Norway’s Deputy Permanent Representative, said WHO remains indispensable in today’s complex emergencies, from protecting sexual and reproductive health to supporting frontline health workers under extreme pressure.

Life-Saving Actions on the Frontline

WHO and partners’ emergency health actions include:

• Keeping essential health facilities operational

• Delivering emergency medical supplies and trauma care

• Preventing and responding to disease outbreaks

• Restoring routine immunization

• Ensuring access to sexual, reproductive, maternal and child health services

WHO said early, predictable investment allows rapid response when crises strike—reducing deaths, containing outbreaks and preventing health emergencies from escalating into wider humanitarian and security crises.

“With the requested resources, WHO can sustain life-saving care in the world’s most severe emergencies while helping build a bridge toward recovery and peace,” the organization said.