In brief
The Trump administration's apparent defiance of a court order is leading to severe disruptions in vital health services globally, leaving communities without essential support as critical funding remains frozen.
Funds for vital health programs around the world remain frozen and their operations unable to resume, despite a federal judge’s order that temporarily halted the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (U.S.A.I.D.). Interviews with health initiative workers across Africa and Asia reveal alarming implications: parents in Kenya struggle to secure tuberculosis tests for their children, while camps in Nigeria and Bangladesh lack clean drinking water for those displaced by civil unrest. In South Sudan, a therapeutic food program cannot reach critically malnourished children.Maleket Hailu, head of an NGO assisting people living with HIV in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and dependent on U.S. funding, lamented, "We have people traveling 300 kilometers from the mountains to try to find their medications at other hospitals because there are none left where they live. U.S.A.I.D. used to provide and transport the medications, but now these individuals are cut off without proper information."A spokesperson from the State Department stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio's office has issued over 180 waivers to resume life-saving activities, with more being approved daily. However, the agency did not clarify the specifics of these projects. Interviews with over 40 different U.S.A.I.D.-funded organizations indicate that even those with waivers are facing significant delays, as the payments system for disbursing funds has remained non-operational for weeks. Typically, organizations receive their grants incrementally by submitting requisitions for imminent activities, a process that is critical for their continuous operation. Many affected groups are non-profits lacking alternative funding sources.
