WHO Spends More on Travel Costs Than Fighting Diseases

According to a recent report, the World Health Organization (WHO) is spending more money on the travel expenses of its executives than on fighting AIDS or malaria.

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The health agency is accused of budgeting approximately $200 million a year for its executives to fly business class and stay in five-star hotels. This figure allegedly surpasses that which is reserved for fighting some of the world’s major health crisis. “We don’t trust people to do the right thing when it comes to travel,” the agency’s finance director Nick Jeffreys revealed at a 2015 seminar.

WHO Director-general Dr. Margaret Chan's one-year travel bill is reported to be $370,000. It was recently revealed that Chan also stayed at a $1,008-a-night hotel in Guinea. The agency defended itself by saying “the nature of WHO’s work often requires WHO staff to travel,” while noting a 14-percent reduction in travel costs in 2016.

Pointedly, UNICEF spends $140 million a year. With twice the staff complement of WHO, the children’s agency manages to keep a tighter budget. Additionally, Doctors Without Borders prohibts business-class travel and spends on average $43 million a year, despite having more than five times as many staffers as health agency.

Last year, WHO is believed to have spent roughly $71 million on AIDS and hepatitis, $61 million on malaria and $59 million on tuberculosis. Though, contrastingly, the organization allocates a whopping $450 million to polio, on a yearly basis.

WHO, which is largely funded by UN member countries, is currently requesting an increase in financial support. This extra funding will come from the pockets of taxpayers. The agency’s annual budget is $2 billion, with its largest contributor being the U.S.