The US government’s decision to withdraw foreign aid and dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is expected to lead to significant human suffering. Estimates by USAID suggest that up to 18 million additional cases of malaria per year, as many as 166,000 deaths, and hundreds of millions of infections could result.
The agency also warns of increased paralysis among children due to polio, with over 200,000 new cases annually, and a lack of treatment for severe acute malnutrition, which is often fatal. The projections include more than 28,000 new cases of infectious diseases such as Ebola and Marburg every year.
These alarming estimates were revealed in internal memos by Nicholas Enrich, the acting assistant administrator for global health at USAID, who has been placed on administrative leave.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/health/usaid-cuts-deaths-infections.html