Experts warn against global health threat while Trump freezes in USAID

Global health experts express their dismay and concern about the dismantling of the American Agency for International Development (USAID), which distributes tens of billions of dollars every year in abroad.

President Donald Trump’s administration has announced enormous reductions in the agency’s workforce and the immediate suspension of almost all of its aid programs.

The US government has announced a 90 -day freeze on the financing of assistance projects while undertaking an “exam” to ensure that they are aligning with the priorities of President Trump.

Trump is a long -term critic of expenses abroad and said that he had to be posted with his “America First” strategy.

The administration has targeted USAID in particular, saying that agency’s expenses are completely inexplicable and have distinguished certain projects such as examples of how the agency has, in its opinion, waste money from taxpayers.

Health experts, on the other hand, warned against the spread of the disease, as well as delays in the development of vaccines and new treatments following the cuts.

In addition to managing many health programs directly, USAID finances other organizations to carry out work on its behalf, and the financing freezing has also caused confusion between these groups.

Derogations for the financing freezing have been published for certain humanitarian programs, but the announcement has already disrupted the services.

Dr. Tom Wingfield, an expert in tuberculosis (TB) and social medicine at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom, BBC told that it was difficult to minimize the impact of the decision to dismantle the USAID.

“People do not appreciate the extent and scope of the USAID. This goes to undernutrition, hygiene, toilet, access to drinking water, which all have a massive impact on tuberculosis and diarrheal diseases.

“Diseases do not respect borders – this is even more the case where we have climate change and the mass movement of people. Infectious diseases will spread.”

Dr. Wingfield says TB kills 1.3 million people per year and makes 10 million people additional.

But four out of 10 people never receive care and can therefore transmit the disease, he said.

“Whether it is a research or an affected clinic, we cover an additional risk of transmission.

“People will die directly because of the cuts in American funding.”

It is not only the TB clinics that are at risk, but those that provide care for people living with HIV.

A large part of this work is carried out by non -governmental organizations, NGOs, which provide vital antiretroviral drugs which can remove the amount of HIV in the blood at undetectable levels, which helps prevent sexual transmission to others people.

Dr. Wingfield says that if the treatment is disrupted, there could be serious problems.

“People with controlled HIV, if they lack medication, their blood virus increases and there is a risk of transmission forward.

“There is a risk of canceling all progress to date.”

Frontline Aids is a British organization based in South Africa that works with 60 partners in 100 countries.

More than 20 of their partners said they were affected by the American freezing of foreign aid.

Communication around frost and subsequent exemption caused a “deep confusion”, the organization told the BBC.

Many partners had to suspend the care, treatment and prevention of HIV for vulnerable children and adults and dismiss staff, he said.

“The majority remain in limbo and this has a catastrophic impact on communities and organizations,” said John Plastow, executive director at Frontline Aids.

He reported that an organization in Uganda declared that it would lack its HIV test kits, drugs and tuberculosis condoms in one month, which are mainly funded by the USAID president’s emergency program For the AIDS rescue program.

In South Africa, a large number of HIV services have stopped. Some provide emergency contraception and contraception to raped women and girls.

Professor Peter Taylor, director of international development studies at Sussex University, said one of the biggest problems with frost was an erosion of trust.

“Stop things suddenly undermines people’s confidence. People are disoriented and angry,” he said.

“Sap of basic confidence is the real cost and which is amplified in many situations from around the world.

“It’s so damaging for American world reputation.”

The USAID also provides funding for trials of crucial international clinical drugs, that Professor Thomas Jaki, chief of the MRC Biostatistical Unit at Cambridge University, fears could now be vulnerable.

“Unfortunately, there are a certain number of tests which are immediately affected by the freezing of the USAID – both in terms of in progress tests, but also tests that are in installation and should start soon.”

He said he was “convinced” that the freezing of American financing “would have an impact on the development of harmful treatments”, to a extent that new fascinating treatments are delayed by years or even thrown away.

“It is clear that the impact in fields such as malaria and HIV will be particularly high, because a notable part of research in these fields is funded by this path,” said Professor Jaki.

Professor Rosa Freedman, professor of international law, conflict and global development at the University of Reading, said that USAID provides up to 40% of global development aid, which covers health as well as the ‘Education and the development of economic prosperity.

But the health programs are the place where the impact of a financing freezing – if it is extended or permanent – is likely to be felt the most strong in the coming months, she warns.

“This will be due in part to the prevention of additional vaccines distributed or financed by the USAID.

“This could mean that avoidable diseases, which, in our view, had been contained or even eradicated, could reappear or worsen, such as cholera and malaria.”

Professor Freedman said it could increase health problems worldwide.

“Given the globalized and interdependent nature of our planet, the concern will be that these diseases could spread quickly and far.”