Dr Atul Gawande, former USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health, protesting closure of USAID at the US Capitol in February – Sapan News
The Cost of ‘Cost-Cutting’ Has already Hit the War on TB – Including in America
Among the areas hard hit by President Trump’s executive order just over two months ago that stopped funding for all foreign development assistance from America, is the global war against tuberculosis.
The order that went into effect on 20 January 2025 marked the start of the US government’s 90-day pause in funding, pending assessments of efficiencies and consistency with President Trump’s foreign policy.
The cuts in government funding to USAID, the US Agency for International Development, have already created havoc in many areas, and could undo years of progress in the war against TB, endangering countless lives around the globe, reports Context , an independent media platform created by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The largest donor in the fight against this highly preventable and treatable, yet deadly disease, was USAID, responsible for a quarter of the total international funding to health centers and institutions in various countries.
There were signs of recovery in TB programs, which had become the backbone of COVID-19 infrastructure. The current freeze has created a widespread impact in just a few weeks.
A global impact survey on TB, developed and published by the TB Community Coordination Hub revealed that patients worldwide have been abandoned without access to medicines. Hundreds of employees from community-based and non-governmental organizations have been laid off, and many organizations have completely shut down due to issues in financial and human resource management. As a result, new and emerging cases are not being tracked.
All this will not just affect the developing economies which have historically been more impacted by the disease but also hit home in the United States. A tuberculosis outbreak is emerging in the country.
The treatment cost is estimated to increase by $11 billion dollars – because diseases spread regardless of borders. All the efforts, research and investment put into the war on TB will be undone as the US government’s own projections estimate a year-long pause in aid would cause an increase of 28 to 32% in drug-resistance cases worldwide.
The airborne pathogen is expected to mutate into non-treatable forms if the funding cuts persist. Without sustained investments in TB programs, the world faces an even larger and more complex health crisis, potentially undermining the preparedness needed for future global health emergencies. Experts predict as many as 2.2 million deaths over the next five years, from a disease that is treatable.
What is even more disheartening is that during a time when other donor countries should be extending their hands in support towards this war, countries like the UK and France are slashing their foreign aid budgets.
The 90-day suspension of funding to USAID ends on 20 April 2025. Global health experts hope that the orders will be revoked and funding restored. This is imperative in order to win the global fight against tuberculosis. The stakes are too high, and the potential consequences too severe to allow these cuts to persist. Immediate action is needed to safeguard public health and continue the push toward ending TB once and for all. – Sapan News
