The 90-Day Chill: How the U.S. Aid Freeze is Leaving Millions in Peril
- Evelyn J. Kim
- Feb 2
- 3 min read
Global health programs worldwide have been disrupted due to the Trump administration’s 90-day pause on foreign aid and stop-work orders.
The impact has been immediate and severe across multiple nations. Take Uganda, where the National Malaria Control Program has stopped spraying insecticide in homes and halted distributing bed nets to pregnant women and children. Zambia is also experiencing disruptions in delivering essential medical supplies, including drugs for pregnant women and treatments for children, mainly due to the transportation companies, which were paid through now-suspended U.S. aid projects.
Numerous clinical trials across South Asia, Africa, and Latin America have been suspended, leaving thousands of study participants without access to ongoing treatment or medical supervision – treatments many of them desperately need. These suspended programs were crucial in preventing millions of deaths from diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. They also helped to maintain a positive U.S. presence in regions where China has been striving to exercise and increase its influence.
While Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an exemption for “lifesaving humanitarian assistance,” many programs remain uncertain about whether they qualify. Communication has been especially difficult because many U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contacts have been either fired, furloughed, or instructed not to communicate.
Domestically, the employment impact is substantial. About 500 U.S.-based USAID employees lost their jobs, along with thousands of workers in affected countries. The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh alone laid off over 1,000 employees.
The President’s Malaria Initiative, founded by George W. Bush, lost two-thirds of its staff, including leading malaria control experts. The disruption is particularly concerning because malaria interventions in Africa are carefully timed around the rainy season. Just last year, over 50 million children received preventative drugs before the rainy season.
The situation is growing to be critical in Myanmar, where malaria cases increased dramatically from 78,000 in 2019 to some 850,000 in 2023. Delivery of malaria tests and drugs is now frozen, and some organizations now lack staff to distribute supplies even if they arrive. Experts project that, as a result, malaria cases could top their previous 2023 spike.
On a macro-scale, the aid freeze has affected the global health supply chain, USAID’s largest and most influential project, in over 55 countries. This system is responsible for delivering HIV medications, malaria treatments, and maternal health supplies. While essential tasks like guarding warehouse supplies have continued, others - especially around distribution - have halted. In Zambia, for example, where USAID supports the distribution of public health products through private trucking companies, all medical supply transportation has ceased. Similarly, U.S.-funded operations in Mozambique, Nigeria, Malawi, and Haiti are also frozen.
Clinical researchers in East Africa face ethical dilemmas regarding participants in HIV prevention and contraception trials. Many trial participants have already received treatments or medical devices, but researchers can no longer provide the proper follow-up care or supervision typically required in these trials. The suspension has also left millions of dollars worth of medical supplies, including oxygen systems and anti-malaria bed nets, in limbo. About 2.4 million bed nets are currently sitting in Asian production facilities, with contracts for an additional 8 million more now uncertain.
Even if funding resumes immediately, experts warn this interruption will have long-lasting consequences, potentially resulting in preventable deaths months after these 90 days pass.
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