Healthcare workers in Uganda have reported a resurgence of infectious disease because of the funding cuts: “TB prevalence rate is shooting up. We see people come with cryptococcal meningitis. Before we just had just a few numbers. You could count them on your fingers. And now, we are experiencing a good number of such... life threatening illnesses. They are claiming lives….” — Clinical officer, Uganda

Date: 8/25

Region: Africa

Country: Uganda

Topic: Health

Policy Lens: Global Health Security

Additional Context: This information was first published in an August 2025 research brief by Physicians for Human Rights entitled "On the Brink of Catastrophe: U.S. Foreign Aid Disruption to HIV Services in Tanzania and Uganda.” This research brief draws on 29 oral history interviews, including five focus groups, with doctors, nurses, peer counselors, people living with HIV, key population members, and non-governmental organization staff conducted in Tanzania and Uganda in April 2025. To document the impacts of the U.S. foreign aid freeze and HIV funding cuts, the multidisciplinary study team used purposive and snowball sampling in Moshi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Fort Portal, Kampala, Kasese, and Tororo, Uganda. Participants had explicit control over how personal information was shared, with consent and demographic forms tailored to individual preferences. 

Source: Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)