Trump’s administration intends to end the United States’ financial support for GAVI, the organization that has helped buy critical vaccines for children in developing countries, saving millions of lives in the last quarter of the century and significantly reduce their support for the most prominent efforts.
The administration has decided to continue some basic grants for drugs to treat HIV and tuberculosis and food assistance in countries facing civil wars and natural disasters.
These decisions are included in a 281 -page computing sheet that the United States International Development Service is sent to Congress on Monday night, recording foreign aid projects planning to continue and end. The New York Times received a copy of the computing sheet and other documents describing the plans.
The documents provide a sweeping overview of the emergency scale of administration’s retreat from a half -century attempt to present the United States to the developing world as a compassionate ally and to lead the struggle against infectious diseases killing millions of people annually.
The accompanying letter describes USAID skeletal residues after the cuts, with most of its funding eliminated and only 869 from more than 6,000 employees who are still active.
Overall, the administration decided to continue 898 USAID awards and finish 5,341, the letter says. The He says the rest of the programs are worth up to $ 78 billion. But only $ 8.3 billion of it is unnecessary funds – money is still available for exhumation. Because this amount covers the awards that last for several years in the future, the number indicates a huge $ 40 billion reduction that USAID spends annually.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman, who now manages what is left by USAID, confirmed that the end endings were accurate and stated that “every award ended was reviewed individually for alignment with the priorities of the Service and the Administration and the Terminal. priorities of policy on national interest or service policy ”.
The note in Congress presents the plan for external assistance as a unilateral decision. However, because expenses for individual health programs such as HIV or vaccination are available in Congress, it is not clear that the administration has legal power to terminate these programs. This issue is currently referring to multiple judicial challenges.
Among the programs that have been terminated is the funding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which carries out surveillance for diseases that can be transmitted by animals to humans, including bird flu in 49 countries. Some important programs for monitoring and fighting malaria, one of the top assassins in the world, have also been terminated.
Dr. Austin Demby, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Health, who is based on Gavi’s support to help buy vaccines, said he was “overwhelmed and disturbed” by the decision to end US funding and warned that the consequences would be felt worldwide.
“This is not just a bureaucratic decision, children’s lives are at stake, global health safety will be at stake,” he said. “Gavi’s support in Sierra Leone is not just a matter of Sierra Leone. It’s something that the region, the world, benefits from.”
In addition to trying to approach all children with routine immune effects, Sierra Leone is currently struggling with a MPox outburst, for which Gavi has provided both vaccines and critical support for their delivery, he said.
“We hope that the US government will continue to be the world leader who has always been – the placement of money in Gavi is not an expense. It is an investment,” Dr. Demby said
Gavi is estimated to have saved the lives of 19 million children since it was created 25 years ago. The United States contributes to 13 % of its budget.
The terminated grant to Gavi amounted to $ 2.6 billion by 2030. Gavi calculates a promise made last year by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. for his next cycle of funding.
New vaccines with the promise of saving millions of lives in low -income countries, such as one to protect children from severe malaria and another to protect adolescent girls from the recently available cervical cancer and Gavi can expand them.
The loss of US funds will restore the body’s ability to continue providing the basic range of services – such as immunization for measles and polio – to a growing population of children in the poorest countries, let alone expand to include new vaccines.
With Gavi’s estimation, loss of US support can mean that 75 million children do not receive routine vaccinations over the next five years, with more than 1.2 million children dying.
The US was among the top donors of the organization since its creation and became the largest during the Covid -9 pandemic. While European countries have historically offer significant funding, many now reduce foreign aid costs as they face US policy change in Ukraine and the US requires to increase their defense spending. Japan, another important Gavi donor, struggles with a derogatory currency.
Dr. Sania Nishtar, Gavi’s chief executive, said she hopes Trump’s administration would review the decision to end her support. Gavi’s work keeps people everywhere, including Americans, safe, he said. In addition to protecting individual children, vaccination reduces the possibility of large outbreaks. The Agency maintains worldwide reserves for vaccines against diseases such as Ebola and Cholera, developing them in rapid reaction efforts for epidemics.
Gavi’s structure requires countries to pay part of the cost of vaccines by increasing their share as income levels increase. Medium -income countries are weaned by support.
The note says that 869 USAID staff worked since last Friday, while 3,848 was on administrative leave and 1,602 are in the dismissal process. Of the 300 test employees initially fired, 270 returned to work after a court ruling prohibiting their dismissal.
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