Disease outbreaks and starvation deaths will increase as a result of USAID cuts, officials say
Millions of people around the world are today feeling the repercussions of President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze international aid for 90 days and shut down the U.S.
Millions of people around the world are today feeling the repercussions of President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze international aid for 90 days and shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, by far the largest provider of foreign assistance around the world.
From biosecurity and vaccines for viruses such as polio, mpox and Ebola, to food supplies for famine-stricken countries and essential treatment for people living with HIV, a vast number of programs around the world have been hit by the decision, current and former USAID workers told NBC News.
“Probably we have lost lives,” Marcia Wong, who served as deputy assistant administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance under the Biden administration, said in an interview earlier this month.
Everybody interviewed for this article spoke to NBC News before the Trump administration said Sunday that it was eliminating 2,000 positions at USAID, and placing all but a fraction of other staffers on leave.
Here, NBC News looks at the broad impact the pause on foreign aid has had and what is at stake.
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