The fight to beat neglected tropical diseases was going well. 2025 could change that ↳
NPR reports that years of progress against neglected tropical diseases — driven largely by U.S.-backed mass drug distribution and surveillance programs — are now at risk as funding cuts disrupt treatment campaigns.
Inside the Trump administration’s man-made hunger crisis ↳
ProPublica traces how abrupt U.S. policy decisions, including aid freezes and program terminations, triggered food shortages across fragile regions, compounding conflict and displacement. Internal documents and interviews show the crisis was widely anticipated but allowed to unfold anyway.
Trump officials celebrated with cake after slashing aid. Then people died of cholera. ↳
ProPublica reveals how U.S. officials marked major aid cuts even as warnings mounted about disease outbreaks. In the weeks that followed, cholera spread in vulnerable communities, underscoring the deadly consequences of dismantling public health systems mid-crisis.
‘Nobody wants to take responsibility for the tragedy that’s going on here’ ↳
Bill Gates tells Politico that projected increases in child mortality are closely tied to recent foreign aid cuts by the U.S. and other wealthy countries, following decades of steady progress. While the Trump administration disputes the link, Gates argues the scale and speed of the cuts have had deadly consequences.
A decade of nutrition gains at risk as US-funded systems vanish in Nepal
The USAID-backed nutrition system that once reached some of Nepal’s most vulnerable districts has collapsed, halting screening and straining health posts already short on staff and supplies.
Photo Credit: Sunita Neupane
The end of ending AIDS: Malawi’s hard-won progress unravels as U.S. programs shut down ↳
Foreign Policy details how the termination of U.S.-supported HIV programs in Malawi — including testing, treatment literacy, and community adherence networks — has left clinics overwhelmed and patients without care.
Aid cuts have shaken HIV/AIDS care to its core — with millions more infections projected ↳
The Guardian reports that U.S. funding cuts have shuttered HIV clinics, disrupted PrEP and ART supply chains, and ended community-led outreach across multiple countries. Health workers warn that prevention gains made over two decades are collapsing, with global agencies now projecting a surge in new infections and treatment interruptions that could undo years of progress toward epidemic control.
US and European aid cuts could result in 22.6 million deaths worldwide, study finds [Reuters] ↳
New modeling suggests that simultaneous U.S. and European aid drawdowns would erase decades of gains against infectious disease. The findings point to a geopolitical vacuum, with no major donor prepared to offset the scale of withdrawn support.
Study: U.S. funding cuts could result in nearly 9 million child tuberculosis cases, 1.5 million child deaths [Harvard] ↳
The research warns that reductions in U.S. TB funding could trigger major spikes in pediatric infections. The projections underscore how cuts undermine global outbreak control and shift long-term treatment costs back onto lower-income countries.
A stock of U.S.-bought birth control, meant for sub-Saharan Africa, goes bad in Belgium [NPR] ↳
Expired contraceptives show how abruptly pausing U.S. funds can freeze global supply chains midstream. Beyond wasted commodities, the stall drives up procurement costs and disrupts access to family planning programs that depend on predictable U.S. financing, NPR reports.
Three countries boost family planning funding in ‘powerful shift from dependency’ in Africa after aid cuts [The Guardian] ↳
New domestic spending in Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia signals resilience, but the move also exposes how heavily the region relied on U.S. support, reports The Guardian. Governments are now filling emergency gaps rather than following planned transition timelines, raising questions about sustainability and equity.
Aid cuts are devastating health services in Africa [The Economist] ↳
In Madagascar, the loss of a USAID-funded health program has left remote communities without care, driving up maternal deaths, malaria, and disease outbreaks.
America’s retreat from aid is devastating Somalia’s health system [NYT] ↳
Somalia’s health system is collapsing under the weight of U.S. withdrawal. Clinics once supported by American aid are now turning away malnourished children.
Lesotho’s HIV progress unravels after US aid cuts [AP] ↳
U.S. funding cuts have derailed once-successful HIV programs in Lesotho, the AP reports. The move has forced clinics to scale back services and threatened hard-won gains in treatment and prevention
US aid cuts are being felt across Africa. Here's where [WaPo] ↳
Across Africa, The Washington Post maps where U.S. aid cuts are being felt most—from shuttered health clinics to food shortages. The fallout spans dozens of countries
US aid cuts deepen hunger crisis in Myanmar [AP] ↳
The humanitarian situation in Myanmar is deteriorating rapidly. The Associated Press reports starvation and death in a country that once counted the U.S. as its largest humanitarian donor.
Babies' deaths in Cameroon show how US aid cuts curtail malaria fight [Reuters] ↳
Babies are dying in Cameroon after malaria programs lost U.S. backing. Health officials say the cuts have crippled prevention efforts.
One-third of children in parts of Kenya severely malnourished [The Independent] ↳
In Kenya’s Turkana County, one in three children screened by Save the Children are acutely malnourished amid overlapping impacts of U.S. and U.K. aid cuts, drought, and climate shocks.
Trump's USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting [WaPo] ↳
Five-year-old Suza Kenyaba died of malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo after U.S.-funded medication sat in a regional warehouse due to a suspension of foreign aid. The Washington Post reports that across dozens of countries, USAID shipments of antimalarial and HIV supplies were late or never arrived.
Death by aid cuts: how a decision in the US led to the loss of a mother in Yemen [The Guardian] ↳
In Yemen, The Guardian traces a mother’s death to a single U.S. aid decision. The story captures how bureaucracy in Washington can reverberate thousands of miles away.

