WHO opens annual assembly as UN health agency faces cuts

Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, left, delivers his statement, during the opening of the 78th World Health Assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, May 19, 2025. (Magali Girardin/Keystone via AP) GENEVA — Stripped of U.S. funding, the World Health Organization chief on Monday appealed to member countries to support its "extremely modest" request for a $2.1 billion annual budget by putting that sum into perspective next to outlays for ad campaigns for tobacco or the cost of war. After nearly 80 years of striving to improve human…