Global Health Workers Describe Impact a Year After Trump Admin Shut Down USAID

"USAID funding has significantly contributed to the reduction in adult and child mortality across low-income and middle-income countries over the past two decades. Our estimates show that, unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030."

"Since the Trump administration shut down USAID, which had delivered humanitarian aid and medical supplies to countries around the world since the Kennedy administration, the repercussions have been hard to fathom for many in the global health community. But they certainly include avoidable deaths and an increase in suffering for some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable populations."

The Trump administration's shutdown of USAID in 2025 has created significant humanitarian consequences worldwide. The agency, which provided humanitarian aid and medical supplies since the Kennedy administration, was dissolved despite its documented impact on reducing mortality in low-income and middle-income countries. A Lancet study warns that continued funding cuts could result in a staggering number of avoidable deaths by 2030. Health workers, government officials, and former USAID employees describe the impact as heartbreaking and devastating. Concrete effects are already visible: malaria deaths increased in northern Cameroon due to fractured antimalarial supply chains, Yemen lost food assistance for 2.4 million people, and nutritional care for 100,000 children was halted.

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