New Delhi, Jan 23 Even as the US has pulled out from the World Health Organization, Serum Institute of India (SII) chief Adar Poonawalla on Thursday said that the UN health agency’s role is essential in global health systems.
In a media interview at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2025 in Davos, Poonawalla said that WHO plays a crucial role in maintaining global standards on medicines and vaccines. In addition, they also contribute to testing, research, and surveillance.
"They (WHO) maintain, and sustain global standards for medicines and vaccines, and they're essential for maintaining global health systems, testing, research, and surveillance," Poonawalla said.
His comments come as the new Donald Trump-led administration in the US pulled out funding from the WHO. Shortly after his inauguration to a second term, Trump signed the executive order on the withdrawal stating that the WHO mishandled the Covid pandemic and that the agency required "unfairly onerous payments" from the US that were disproportionate to the sums provided by other, larger countries, such as China.
The US has long been the largest contributor to the WHO's mission, contributing $1.28 billion in 2022 and 2023 - $400 million more than Germany, the second-largest contributor.
Poonawalla called on other nations to step up and bridge the funding gap left by the US.
"We've been calling upon leaders and others here to step up to bridge that gap because there are other countries who can and $500 million is not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things for countries to pitch in and contribute." He also shared about how SII is tackling the global malaria challenge by providing vaccines, especially in poor countries.
SII is "trying to reduce malaria in countries in Africa by providing vaccines that can save lives", the CEO said, while calling for collaboration between governments and private entities to develop affordable solutions to various other diseases.
"With our capacity and partnerships, we aim to ensure that every individual who needs these vaccines gets access to them," he added.
Globally, the WHO data reveals that an estimated 2.2 billion cases of malaria and 12.7 million deaths have been averted since 2000, but the disease remains a serious global health threat, particularly in the WHO African Region.
In 2023, there were an estimated 263 million cases and 597,000 malaria deaths worldwide -- representing about 11 million more cases in 2023 compared to 2022, and nearly the same number of deaths.
Poonawalla noted that SII has been shipping the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine to African countries, which has an efficacy of 77 per cent.
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