"Gawande, the head of global health at USAID during the Biden administration, is featured in the short film Rovina's Choice, filmed at a refugee camp at the border between Kenya and South Sudan earlier this year. We play an excerpt from the film and discuss the impact of USAID cuts on humanitarian crises around the world. Gawande says hundreds of thousands of deaths have already occurred as a result of the loss of aid. "We're seeing early deaths, like the malnutrition cases, and then we'll see the wave that's more to come.""
"Soon after President Trump began his second term in office, the agency found itself in the crosshairs of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk, a megadonor to Trump's election campaign. Musk and DOGE pursued deep cuts and layoffs at the agency. Earlier this year, an independent analysis published in the medical journal The Lancet estimated that USAID had saved 92 million lives globally over two decades, including the lives of 30 million children."
USAID underwent deep cuts and layoffs driven by a donor-led Department of Government Efficiency, significantly reducing capacity for global health and humanitarian programs. An independent Lancet analysis credits USAID with saving 92 million lives over two decades, including 30 million children, and projects that funding reductions could cause 14 million additional deaths by 2030. Atul Gawande reports hundreds of thousands of deaths already linked to the loss of aid and identifies malnutrition as an immediate cause, with larger waves of mortality expected. The cuts have weakened responses in refugee camps and other crisis settings.
Read at Truthout
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