{"id":70913,"date":"2025-02-20T16:08:46","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T00:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=70913"},"modified":"2025-02-20T16:08:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T00:08:46","slug":"usaid-shutdown-puts-the-health-of-americans-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=70913","title":{"rendered":"USAID Shutdown Puts the Health of Americans at Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Sunita Sohrabji<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“The US had a great outreach program. We touched a lot of people around the world through USAID.” – Dr. Benjamin Neuman, former chief virologist at the Global Health Research Complex at Texas A&M University.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A young boy receives his polio vaccine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (USAID photo\/Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The abrupt shutdown of USAID-funded projects has sent shockwaves through the global health community, with experts warning of severe consequences for disease research, vaccine development, and international health security.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, the US Agency for International Development has played a pivotal role in combating infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis. It has provided life-saving medical treatments in regions that would otherwise struggle to access them. The agency\u2019s abrupt closure by the Trump Administration\u2019s new Department of Government Efficiency has left numerous projects in limbo, including essential funding for vaccine research and long-term studies aimed at preventing future pandemics.<\/p>\n

Several lawsuits have been filed and lower court judges have issued temporary injunctions halting the scrapping of funding and programs. In 2023, the US spent $71.9 billion on foreign aid, about 1.2% of its annual budget.<\/p>\n

Soft Power<\/h2>\n
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Pew Research Center graphic.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe US had a great outreach program. We touched a lot of people around the world through USAID,\u201d said Dr. Benjamin Neuman, Professor of Biology and former Chief Virologist of the Global Health Research Complex at Texas A&M University. \u201cThese are all projects that are dual benefit. They\u2019re helping someone in another country, and they are directly or indirectly, in the short or long term, really helping here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStopping those projects right in the middle is really bad for science. There are ideas that may not ever get tested that could have become vaccines for HIV. There are countries that could have been malaria-free a year from now that may not be,\u201d said Neuman in an interview with Ethnic Media Services.<\/p>\n

Here are portions of the discussion, which can be watched in its entirety below.<\/p>\n

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