Differential treatment in WHO-channelled health financing after WHA76 (2023)

In some international regimes, the role of differential treatment of “developing countries” is widely acknowledged. In particular, “Special and Differential Treatment” (SDT) is central to the trade regime while “Common but Differentiated Responsibilities” (CBDR) is fundamental to the climate regime. By contrast, in the health regime, the role of differential treatment has been systematically conceptualized and analyzed only more recently.
Differential treatment in this regime is most clearly visible in the case of in WHO-channelled health financing, which is based on “Capacity, Willingness, and Need” (CWN). Unlike developments in the trade and climate regime, differential treatment has so far proven rather resilient in the health regime although some of its classic beneficiaries have meanwhile become so-called “rising powers”, which has led to controversies across regimes whether differential treatment needs to be adapted to these new realities.
In 2023, the World Health Assembly (WHA76) passed key decisions on WHO financing. While these decisions were aimed at improving the financial sustainability of WHO, they have also implications for the current and future status of differential treatment. The paper draws on recent scholarship on differential treatment in the health regime to conceptualize and assess these implications.