COPENHAGEN – Drastic cuts to international humanitarian aid, primarily from the United States, have created a critical juncture for Europe, forcing the continent to bolster its own health resilience and resource management, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for Europe told AFP in an exclusive interview.
The interview with Dr. Hans Kluge comes just days before a pivotal meeting of the 53 member states in the WHO European region, where these financial and strategic challenges will be a central topic.
“We are facing a monumental shift,” Dr. Kluge stated. “For decades, a significant portion of our global health programs, both in this region and worldwide, were anchored by funding from USAID and the United States. That landscape has fundamentally changed.”
The administration of US President Donald Trump, since taking office in January, has enacted severe cuts to international aid contributions and has effectively dismantled the operational capacity of USAID, once the world’s largest humanitarian aid agency. This retrenchment has created a funding vacuum that global health bodies are struggling to fill.
An “Existential” Crisis and a Strategic Pivot
Dr. Kluge described the situation as an “existential pressure point” for the WHO, exacerbated by reduced contributions from other traditional donors like Britain, France, and Germany, who are also facing domestic economic pressures.
In response to a budget reduction of approximately 20 percent, WHO Europe is undertaking a major restructuring. The organization’s new strategy is not merely to survive the cuts but to emerge as a more efficient and integral partner to national health systems.
“The WHO Europe of the future must be healthier, stronger, trusted, evidence-based, and politically neutral,” Dr. Kluge asserted. His vision involves a leaner organization that prioritizes its missions and integrates more deeply within domestic European health administrations to maximize impact.
A “Dual Track” Approach: Crisis and Core Health
A cornerstone of this new strategy is a “dual track” approach. This requires the ability to nimbly respond to acute emergencies—such as armed conflict or natural disasters—while simultaneously ensuring that essential, long-term public health programs remain fully operational.
“This was the biggest lesson learned from the Covid-19 pandemic,” Kluge explained. “Health systems that were solely focused on daily operations were overwhelmed when a crisis hit. We cannot make that mistake again.”
He pointed to Ukraine as a current example, where international focus is overwhelmingly on military defense, often at the expense of shoring up a healthcare system under immense strain.
Tackling a Silent Epidemic: The Mental Health Crisis
Beyond immediate crises, Dr. Kluge identified a “silent epidemic” raging across the continent: a severe mental health crisis. Fueled by the trauma of war, pervasive loneliness, anxiety, and the lingering socio-economic effects of the pandemic, mental health has become one of the region’s most pressing issues.
“That’s one of the big things, the hottest issues we face,” he said, emphasizing the urgent need to build “citizen resilience.” According to WHO data, one in six adults and one in five children in the European region will experience a mental health problem in their lifetime, underscoring the scale of the challenge.
Channeling Scarce Resources Wisely
With a constrained budget, Dr. Kluge said the organization must focus its efforts on the most alarming regional trends. These include rising youth addiction, the dangers of a poorly regulated online environment for children, the escalating health impacts of the climate crisis, and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases like cancer and heart disease.
“We must channel our few resources strategically in these directions,” he insisted.
He also sounded a stark warning on the backsliding of vaccination rates, a cornerstone of public health. The number of children in the region who have never received a single vaccine has alarmingly increased from 366,000 in 2023 to 440,000 in 2024.
He attributed this decline to a “perfect storm” of barriers, including logistical hurdles, costs, a shortage of healthcare workers, and the rampant spread of medical misinformation online.
“Vaccination is the most cost-effective public health tool we possess. We simply cannot afford to lose it,” he stated.
Ultimately, Dr. Kluge returned to the theme of proactive investment in health. He stressed that prevention is not an expense, but a down payment on future stability and prosperity.
“The evidence is clear: for every one euro you invest in prevention, you get seven euros back in societal and economic benefits,” the 56-year-old doctor said. “The era of relying on external aid is over. It is time for Europe to take care of Europe.”
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