USAID cuts may cause over 14 million additional deaths

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2 days ago

Deep funding cuts to the US Agency for International Development and its potential dismantling could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, according to research published in The Lancet medical journal.
President Donald Trump's administration has made funding cuts to USAID and its aid programs worldwide in what the US government says is part of its broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
The research was published on Monday, the same day former US presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration - and singer Bono recited a poem - in an emotional video farewell with staffers of the USAID.
Obama called the Trump administration's dismantling of USAID "a colossal mistake".
Speaking in a recorded statement, he offered assurances to the aid and development workers.
"Your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come," he told them.
Monday was the last day as an independent agency for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organisation, created by president John F Kennedy as a peaceful way of promoting US national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered USAID absorbed into the State Department from Tuesday.
USAID funding has had a crucial role in improving global health, primarily directed toward low and middle-income countries, particularly African nations, according to the study.
The study estimated that over the past two decades, USAID-funded programs had prevented more than 91 million deaths globally, including 30 million deaths among children.
Projections suggest that ongoing deep funding cuts - combined with the potential dismantling of the agency - could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million deaths among children younger than five, the study said.
Washington is the world's largest humanitarian aid donor, amounting to at least 38 per cent of all contributions recorded by the United Nations. It disbursed $US61 billion ($A93 billion) in foreign assistance last year, just over half of it via USAID, according to government data.
"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," the study said.
USAID was one of the first and most fiercely targeted for government-cutting by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, with staffers abruptly locked out of systems and offices and terminated by mass emailing.
Trump claimed the agency was run by "radical left lunatics" and rife with "tremendous fraud." Musk called it "a criminal organisation."
Rubio said the Trump administration cancelled over 80 per cent of all programs at USAID following a six-week review.
The remaining approximately 1000 programs, he said, would now be administered "more effectively" under the US State Department and in consultation with Congress.
with AP
Deep funding cuts to the US Agency for International Development and its potential dismantling could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, according to research published in The Lancet medical journal.
President Donald Trump's administration has made funding cuts to USAID and its aid programs worldwide in what the US government says is part of its broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
The research was published on Monday, the same day former US presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration - and singer Bono recited a poem - in an emotional video farewell with staffers of the USAID.
Obama called the Trump administration's dismantling of USAID "a colossal mistake".
Speaking in a recorded statement, he offered assurances to the aid and development workers.
"Your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come," he told them.
Monday was the last day as an independent agency for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organisation, created by president John F Kennedy as a peaceful way of promoting US national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered USAID absorbed into the State Department from Tuesday.
USAID funding has had a crucial role in improving global health, primarily directed toward low and middle-income countries, particularly African nations, according to the study.
The study estimated that over the past two decades, USAID-funded programs had prevented more than 91 million deaths globally, including 30 million deaths among children.
Projections suggest that ongoing deep funding cuts - combined with the potential dismantling of the agency - could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million deaths among children younger than five, the study said.
Washington is the world's largest humanitarian aid donor, amounting to at least 38 per cent of all contributions recorded by the United Nations. It disbursed $US61 billion ($A93 billion) in foreign assistance last year, just over half of it via USAID, according to government data.
"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," the study said.
USAID was one of the first and most fiercely targeted for government-cutting by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, with staffers abruptly locked out of systems and offices and terminated by mass emailing.
Trump claimed the agency was run by "radical left lunatics" and rife with "tremendous fraud." Musk called it "a criminal organisation."
Rubio said the Trump administration cancelled over 80 per cent of all programs at USAID following a six-week review.
The remaining approximately 1000 programs, he said, would now be administered "more effectively" under the US State Department and in consultation with Congress.
with AP
Deep funding cuts to the US Agency for International Development and its potential dismantling could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, according to research published in The Lancet medical journal.
President Donald Trump's administration has made funding cuts to USAID and its aid programs worldwide in what the US government says is part of its broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
The research was published on Monday, the same day former US presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration - and singer Bono recited a poem - in an emotional video farewell with staffers of the USAID.
Obama called the Trump administration's dismantling of USAID "a colossal mistake".
Speaking in a recorded statement, he offered assurances to the aid and development workers.
"Your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come," he told them.
Monday was the last day as an independent agency for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organisation, created by president John F Kennedy as a peaceful way of promoting US national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered USAID absorbed into the State Department from Tuesday.
USAID funding has had a crucial role in improving global health, primarily directed toward low and middle-income countries, particularly African nations, according to the study.
The study estimated that over the past two decades, USAID-funded programs had prevented more than 91 million deaths globally, including 30 million deaths among children.
Projections suggest that ongoing deep funding cuts - combined with the potential dismantling of the agency - could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million deaths among children younger than five, the study said.
Washington is the world's largest humanitarian aid donor, amounting to at least 38 per cent of all contributions recorded by the United Nations. It disbursed $US61 billion ($A93 billion) in foreign assistance last year, just over half of it via USAID, according to government data.
"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," the study said.
USAID was one of the first and most fiercely targeted for government-cutting by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, with staffers abruptly locked out of systems and offices and terminated by mass emailing.
Trump claimed the agency was run by "radical left lunatics" and rife with "tremendous fraud." Musk called it "a criminal organisation."
Rubio said the Trump administration cancelled over 80 per cent of all programs at USAID following a six-week review.
The remaining approximately 1000 programs, he said, would now be administered "more effectively" under the US State Department and in consultation with Congress.
with AP
Deep funding cuts to the US Agency for International Development and its potential dismantling could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, according to research published in The Lancet medical journal.
President Donald Trump's administration has made funding cuts to USAID and its aid programs worldwide in what the US government says is part of its broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
The research was published on Monday, the same day former US presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration - and singer Bono recited a poem - in an emotional video farewell with staffers of the USAID.
Obama called the Trump administration's dismantling of USAID "a colossal mistake".
Speaking in a recorded statement, he offered assurances to the aid and development workers.
"Your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come," he told them.
Monday was the last day as an independent agency for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organisation, created by president John F Kennedy as a peaceful way of promoting US national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered USAID absorbed into the State Department from Tuesday.
USAID funding has had a crucial role in improving global health, primarily directed toward low and middle-income countries, particularly African nations, according to the study.
The study estimated that over the past two decades, USAID-funded programs had prevented more than 91 million deaths globally, including 30 million deaths among children.
Projections suggest that ongoing deep funding cuts - combined with the potential dismantling of the agency - could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million deaths among children younger than five, the study said.
Washington is the world's largest humanitarian aid donor, amounting to at least 38 per cent of all contributions recorded by the United Nations. It disbursed $US61 billion ($A93 billion) in foreign assistance last year, just over half of it via USAID, according to government data.
"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," the study said.
USAID was one of the first and most fiercely targeted for government-cutting by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, with staffers abruptly locked out of systems and offices and terminated by mass emailing.
Trump claimed the agency was run by "radical left lunatics" and rife with "tremendous fraud." Musk called it "a criminal organisation."
Rubio said the Trump administration cancelled over 80 per cent of all programs at USAID following a six-week review.
The remaining approximately 1000 programs, he said, would now be administered "more effectively" under the US State Department and in consultation with Congress.
with AP