4 days ago
US-funded contraceptives for poor nations to be burnt in France, sources say
US-funded contraceptives worth nearly $10m (R177.15m) are being sent to France from Belgium to be incinerated after Washington rejected offers from the UN and family planning organisations to buy or ship the supplies to poor nations, two sources told Reuters.
A spokesperson for the US state department confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday that a decision had been taken to destroy the stock.
The supplies have been stuck for months in a warehouse in Geel, a city in the Belgian province of Antwerp, after President Donald Trump's decision to freeze US foreign aid in January.
They comprise contraceptive implants and pills as well as intrauterine devices to help prevent unwanted pregnancies, according to seven sources and a screengrab shared by an eighth source confirming the planned destruction.
The US government will spend $167,000 (R2.95m) to incinerate the stocks at a facility in France that handles medical waste, the US state department confirmed.
The spokesperson said a preliminary decision had been made to destroy certain products from terminated US Agency for International Development contracts (USAID).
'Only a limited number of commodities have been approved for disposal,' the spokesperson said via email, adding that no condoms or HIV medications would be destroyed.
US legislators have introduced two bills this month to prevent the destruction of the supplies after Trump's decision to shut down USAID, but aid groups say the bills are unlikely to be passed in time to stop the incineration.
