U.S. Senator Marco Rubio declares the shutdown of USAID within the United States
In a recent move, President Donald Trump has ended 15 overseas funding programs totaling $4.9 billion, according to a report in the New York Post. The scheme involves the president submitting a request to cancel spending as close as possible to the end of the fiscal year, a mechanism not used since 1972.
The exact date of the official announcement remains unclear, but the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is set to close, with the head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the White House, Russell Vought, overseeing the closure.
The study, conducted by the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, suggests that USAID funding has saved millions of lives from various diseases in low- and middle-income countries. The research covers the time period from 2001 to 2023 and indicates that USAID funding prevented nearly 92 million deaths across all age groups.
The Lancet predicts that the closure of USAID could result in an additional 14 million deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million children under five. The study shows that USAID funding has contributed to reductions in deaths from HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, malnutrition, diarrheal diseases, and lower respiratory infections.
Over 30 million child deaths under five were prevented due to USAID funding, according to the study. The report also does not address the potential impact of any recent changes in USAID funding or management.
The U.S. Secretary of State stated that since January, they have saved taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. However, the potential human cost of these cuts, as predicted by The Lancet, raises concerns about the long-term implications of these decisions.
USAID funding, previously under Russell Vought's management, has been instrumental in peacekeeping activities, USAID programs, and contributions to international organizations. The study underscores the impact of USAID funding on global health and development, and its potential absence could have far-reaching consequences.
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