Trump decision could result in the death of over 166,000 people

It was one of the announcements that really shook up February: the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will stop its aid for a year. This could cost 166,000 lives.

Between 71,000 and 166,000 additional deaths could be caused by malaria alone without this aid, representing an increase of 40%, according to the Futura-sciences website. This interruption could also lead to a global rise in tuberculosis cases (by 28 to 32%) and cause up to 28,000 cases of infectious diseases, including those caused by Ebola.

On 28 February, Nicholas Enrich, the Acting Deputy Administrator of USAID, explained this in a seven-page memo addressed to agency staff, according to Reuters. Just half an hour after this memo was published, Enrich was dismissed. In his note, the former USAID administrator referred back to the suspension of programmes, which he said “will undoubtedly result in preventable deaths, destabilisation and large-scale threats to national security”.

A disappearance that brings chaos

On 26 February, the Trump government announced a 90% cut to USAID’s global work, cancelling almost 10,000 foreign aid grants and contracts worth nearly $60 billion. This closure, as reported by Futura-science, was made as part of the DOGE (Department Of Government Efficiency)’s efforts to drastically reduce US federal government spending. The agency’s disappearance has already caused chaos for several humanitarian organisations.

(MH with Manon Pierre – Source: Futura-sciences – Illustration: ©Unsplash)