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With U.S. support in doubt, WHO chief praises top donor Germany

24 January 2022 23:00 (UTC +04:00)

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that Germany had become its largest donor as data from the U.N. agency showed it looked set to surpass former top contributor Washington for the latest funding period, APA reports quoting Reuters.

The remarks come as the WHO's executive board begins a week-long meeting where a financing proposal to make the U.N. health body more independent is being resisted by the United States, raising doubts about the Biden administration's long-term support for the agency. read more

The trend was confirmed by emerging WHO data for the 2020-21 funding period, reviewed by Reuters, but which is yet to be finalised by the agency.

"As you all know, Germany has been an important friend and longstanding partner to WHO and in fact it is now WHO's largest donor," said director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking alongside German Development Minister Svenja Schulze.

Germany is this year's president of the Group of Seven major economies, and Schulze said its top priority was to end the COVID-19 pandemic. She called for a "massively accelerated, truly global vaccination campaign".