Trump Administration's Deep Gashes in Global Health Through USAID Cuts
Newsletter Edition #255 [The Curated Primer]
Hi,
Today we bring you our curated edition to keep pace, and map the real-time effects of the Trump administration’s decision to freeze, cut and terminate foreign aid affecting millions world wide, and striking at the heart of several institutions in global health.
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I. THE CURATED PRIMER
Trump Administration's Deep Gashes in Global Health Through USAID Cuts
We curated key developments that have been reported over these past few days highlighting the decisions, implications and the long term effects of the Trump administration’s policies on international aid, global health and science.
While the crisis has been sparked in the U.S., the consequences evident globally could collectively could sow years of distrust around Western institutions, also on the back of the inequities witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the crises in the Middle East, and on-going wars.
The current ground-shifting moment in global health could well be a description of how capitalism ultimately got global health. Any change in a new international order will not be able to fix this without fundamental transitions in economic development and as a consequence in global health.
THE DECISIONS
Nearly 10,000 awards cut from USAID, State Department: Devex
U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World: New York Times
Trump Administration Ends Global Health Research Program: New York Times
The end of foreign aid as we know it: Devex
Defending American Companies and Innovators From Overseas Extortion and Unfair Fines and Penalties: The White House
Upheaval and firings at CDC raise fears about disease outbreak response: NPR
Fired USAid workers and HIV activists hold ‘die-in’ to protest Trump and Musk: The Guardian
F.D.A. Cancels Meeting of Vaccine Experts Scheduled to Advise on Flu Shots: New York Times
THE IMPLICATIONS
Services to millions of people collapse as USAID cuts contracts worldwide: Reuters
Impact of US funding freeze on the global AIDS response — Weekly update UNAIDS
Lifesaving Services Terminated for 10,000 Children and 10,000 Pregnant Women: The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF)
Rapid assessment on the Impact of US Government Funding Freeze on TB Responses in selected High TB Burden Countries: Stop TB Partnership
US delayed assistance to Uganda’s Ebola response: Devex
As Measles Cases Surge in Texas, WHO’s Global Control Program Risks Collapse: Bloomberg
Samkelo depended on USAID-backed drugs to stay alive. Then came Trump’s order: Financial Times
THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS
The Erasing of American Science: The Atlantic
The foundations of America’s prosperity are being dismantled: MIT Technology Review
EU to Review Its Multi-Billion Euro Foreign Aid Allocations: Bloomberg
US aid cuts are an opportunity to reimagine global health: Nature
II. PODCAST CORNER
Power and responsibility in Global Health
In this episode, we turn the lens on ourselves as the global health community. Host Garry Aslanyan speaks with Hani Kim and Seye Abimbola about how elite global health actors can marginalize local perspectives and knowledge. They stress the importance of localizing efforts and acknowledging implicit biases to address the structural inequalities that perpetuate health disparities.
Seye Abimbola is Associate Professor at the University of Sydney School of Public Health and inaugural editor-in-chief of BMJ Global Health.
Hani Kim is Executive Director of the Research Investment for Global Health Technology (RIGHT) Foundation in South Korea.
Listen to the episode
Garry Aslanyan is the host and moderator of the Global Health Matters podcast. You can contact him at: aslanyang@who.int
This podcast promotion is sponsored by the Global Health Matters podcast.
If you wish to promote relevant information for readers of Geneva Health Files, for a modest fee, get in touch with us at patnaik.reporting@gmail.com.
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