Policy Updates

On September 21, 2026, during a CEPI side event at the 81^st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 81) Ethiopia, Norway, and the United Kingdom announced pledged total of US$240 million to support the CEPI's five-year plan to strengthen global epidemic and pandemic preparedness.

Norway pledged NOK1 billion (US$106 million), and the UK pledged up to GBP100 million (US$134 million). Ethiopia committed to continue its existing financial support for CEPI, without specifying a new amount.

The pledges will support CEPI 3.0, the organization's strategy for 2027-2031, which aims to systematically reduce the likelihood, impact, and cost of epidemics and pandemics. The combined US$240 million commitment reflected continued donor support for pandemic preparedness financing following the COVID-19 pandemic.

On September 1, 2026, the UK’s Africa Minister, Kirsty McNeill, announced more than GBP50 million (US$68.1 million) in additional funding to contain Ebola in the DRC, bringing the UK’s total contribution to GBP78 million (US$106.2 million).

The package supports disease surveillance, frontline health workers, infection prevention and control, treatment access, community engagement, and safe and dignified burials. The funding is aimed to save lives, support affected communities, and reduce the risk of international spread as the outbreak continued amid conflict, displacement, and severe humanitarian needs.

On June 3, 2026; the UK announced the launch of the Multi-Hazard Research Network to support the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda and provide rapid expert advice during crises as well as funding up to GBP5 million (US$7 million) for research into diagnostics and treatments for the Bundibugyo species of Ebolavirus.

Led by the Institute of Development Studies, the new network brought together experts from the UK and international partners to strengthen prevention, preparedness, and response to emerging infectious disease outbreaks and other crises. The British government said the network’s Rapid Response Unit has already supported the Ebola response through data analysis, social and behavioral science research, lessons from previous outbreaks, local context analysis, and outbreak modeling. Meanwhile, the new GBP5 million (US$7 million) commitment will support research and development of treatments and rapid diagnostics, alongside existing support to CEPI for vaccine candidates.

The UK government has announced the closure of the GHWP, a health workforce development initiative operating in six African countries, citing ODA budget cuts.

The FCDO confirmed the GHWP would close at the end of March 2026. The programme supported healthcare staff development and training in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Somaliland, and had operated in various iterations since 2008. The current three-year contract had previously been expected to be renewed.

The closure followed the Labour government's 2025 decision to reduce ODA to fund increased military spending, following an earlier cut under Boris Johnson's government. Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for FCDO Chris Elmore stated that the government would continue to support countries in building resilient health systems and was working to ensure the sustainability of projects beyond the programme's closure.

Ben Simms, CEO of Global Health Partnerships, which ran the programme, warned that the UK risked ceding ground in global health that would be difficult to recover.

On November 21, 2025The Global Fund held its Eighth Replenishment Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa, co-hosted by the governments of South Africa and the UK on the margins of the G20 Leaders' Summit, securing US$11.3 billion in pledges to sustain the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Partners from more than 30 countries pledged support to save lives and strengthen systems for health, marking the first replenishment held on African soil. The summit demonstrated global solidarity despite fiscal tightening, conflict, and global uncertainty, though total pledges fell short of the ambitious target set in the Investment Case and several donors had yet to confirm their pledges.

The US, the Global Fund's largest donor, committed US$4.6 billion. The UK pledged GBP850 million (US$1.1 billion), while Germany confirmed EUR1 billion (US$1.2 billion) and Canada pledged CAD1.02 billion (US$723 million). France noted that its support remained unchanged. Spain increased its pledge to EUR145 million (US$167 million), Italy pledged EUR150 million (US$173 million), the Netherlands contributed EUR146 million (US$169 million), and additional pledges came from many other donors. South Africa committed US$37 million, including US$10 million from the private sector. African countries made solidarity commitments totaling US$52 million. G20 member states reached US$9 billion in commitments.

Within the private sector, the Gates Foundation pledged US$912 million, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation pledged US$135 million, and (RED) committed US$75 million. Overall, private sector support reached US$1.3 billion.

The UK pledged GBP850 million (US$1.1 billion) to the Global Fund on November 11, 2025, ahead of the 8^th replenishment summit on November 21, 2025, representing a 15% reduction from the UK's previous GBP1 billion (US$1.3 billion) pledge in 2022.

The UK will co-host the Global Fund's 8^th replenishment summit with South Africa on November 21, 2025. The pledge marked the first time in Global Fund history that a host country reduced its contribution.

Chair of the International Development Committee Sarah Champion expressed disappointment with the GBP150 million (US$197 million) reduction. Champion stated that reducing the UK's commitment was short-sighted and risked undermining the UK's reputation as a global health leader. Champion noted that cuts of this scale would have real impact and result in avoidable harm, urging ministers to take seriously the commitments the UK makes to vulnerable populations.

On July 22, 2025, the UK's FCDO released a self-assessment which revealed that 2025-2026 health spending will be cut by nearly 46% to GBP527 million (US716 million), with significant impacts on women's health programs.

The reduction is part of a larger plan to decrease the UK's ODA budget from 0.5% of its GNI to just 0.3%. The assessment indicated spending reductions in Africa for women’s health, health systems, and emergency response.

CSOs expressed concern over the lack of detail on specific program cuts, including those for SRHR. An analysis by the Guttmacher Institute showed a 30% cut in family planning assistance could cause 1.1 million more unintended pregnancies. Further cuts are expected, potentially decreasing the aid budget by over GBP3 billion (US$4.1 billion) by 2028.

On July 22, 2025, the UK's FCDO published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2024 to 2025, which CSO Bond warns of a concerning outlook for communities most in need of assistance.

The document, which contains forward-looking budgets for the current financial year (2025-26) and reported figures for UK ODA spending for 2024-25, outlines the first reductions in a phased plan to lower the ODA budget to 0.3% of GNI by 2027. According to Bond's analysis, the FCDO’s programme ODA budget is set to fall from GBP9.3 billion (US$12.6 billion) in 2024/25 to GBP8.7 billion (US$11.8 billion) in 2025/26. It will decrease further to GBP6.8 billion (US$9.2 billion) in 2026/27 and GBP6.2 billion (US$8.4 billion) in 2027/28, a total decrease of over GBP3 billion (US$4.1 billion).

Bond's analysis highlights that the cuts will disproportionately affect the poorest countries. Bilateral assistance to Africa is being cut by 12% (GBP184 million or US$250 million) in the current financial year. Funding is also being reduced for several countries facing major humanitarian crises, including Ethiopia (25% reduction), South Sudan (23%), and Somalia (27%). Budgets for Sudan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, both stated government priorities, are also seeing cuts of 18% and 21%, respectively. The FCDO has pointed to a GBP85 million (US$115 million) crisis reserve, but Bond questions why previous spending levels were not maintained given the scale of the crises.

Thematic funding is also facing significant reductions. Funding for health ill be cut by 46% (GBP448 million or US$603 million), and the budget for Education, Gender & Equality will be reduced by 42% (GBP206 million or US$278 million). Bond's equality impact assessment found that 11 of the 13 programs proposed for closure were focused on gender equality or disability inclusion, and that the cuts will likely have negative impact on children.

On January 6, 2025, the Royal College of Nursing conduted research stating that the UK cut health ODA to some of the world’s vulnerable countries at the same time as recruiting thousands of their nurses.

The Royal College of Nursing said Labour has a duty to fix the ODA cuts imposed by the previous government, and to work on increasing the UK’s domestic supply of nurses.

Between 2020 and 2023, direct UK ODA for health-related projects in “red list” countries – those with the most severe workforce shortages – fell by nearly 63%, from GBP484 million (US$684 million) to GBP181 million (US$234 million).

Spending on projects designed to strengthen the healthcare workforce in those countries fell by 83%, from GBP24 million (US$34 million) to GBP4 million (US$5 million).

At the same time, the number of nurses from these countries on the UK’s national register rose sharply. There were 11,386 registered in September 2020, and 32,543 in September 2024.

On December 11, 2024, the UK announced a new GBP5 million (US$6 million) program with the RBM Partnership to End Malaria to boost global efforts to end malaria epidemic, stimulate growth, protect women and girls, and renew the push to eliminate malaria by 2030.

The announcement followed the launch of the WHO’s World Malaria Report 2024, which outlined that malaria remains a serious global health challenge and saw an increase of cases in 2023.

The UK’s pledge will support the RBM Partnership to End Malaria as it works to galvanize global leaders in the fight against malaria. UK is slated to include tackling resistance to malaria treatments and supporting efforts to control malaria in Cameroon, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda.