World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday that the organization will be forced to reduce its operations and lay off staff as a result of US funding cuts that have left a huge gap in its budget.

"The United States' failure to pay its assessed contributions for 2024 and 2025, coupled with reductions in official development assistance by some other countries, means we face a payroll gap for 2026-2027 of between $560 million and $650 million," Ghebreyesus told the organization's member states.