World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that countries around the world are spending far more money on weapons and wars than on protecting people’s health. He said global health funding is falling behind at a time when military spending continues to rise sharply.
In a video message and a post on social media, the WHO chief urged world leaders to change their priorities. He asked governments to invest more in saving lives instead of increasing conflicts. He also reminded countries that peace plays a major role in improving health, saying that peace is “the best medicine.”
Mr Ghebreyesus said global military spending reached a record 2.7 trillion dollars in 2024. In contrast, money spent on global health programmes has dropped in recent years. He pointed out that the WHO works in 150 countries and has been given a wide responsibility by its member states.
Despite this large role, the WHO’s budget remains very small. He said the organisation receives only 4.2 billion dollars for two years, or about 2.1 billion dollars a year. He described this amount as extremely modest and not ambitious enough for the work the WHO is expected to do.
To highlight the gap, he compared health funding to military spending. He said 2.1 billion dollars is roughly equal to what the world spends on the military every eight hours. Through this comparison, he called on global leaders to rethink their spending choices and put greater focus on global health and human well-being.