UNITED NATIONS: The reductions in funding especially by the United States after return of Donald Trump to the White House, could badly affect the fight against tuberculosis around the world, warns World Health Organization (WHO).
The US has annually provided between $200 million to $250 million in funding for global TB programs, making it the “largest bilateral donor,” according to the WHO, a Geneva-based UN agency.
In January, President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign aid delivered through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Trump administration last week canceled contracts worth about $60 billion in humanitarian work abroad that were funded by USAID and the State Department, including for global health programmes.
According to the WHO, these cuts could affect TB response efforts in at least 18 countries, and where it says 89% of “expected” U.S. funding was being used for patient care.
Africa, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific are the regions hardest hit by TB that rely on funding, the WHO said in a statement Wednesday. Cuts will impact Africa particularly due to staff layoffs and disruptions in treatment, which could cause TB rates to rise, the organization said.
“Any disruption to TB services – whether financial, political or operational – can have devastating and often fatal consequences for millions worldwide,” said Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO Global Programme on TB and Lung Health.
Last week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres also raised the alarm over funding cuts, noting the immediate impact on key health programmes
Over the past two decades, global TB programmes have saved more than 79 million lives, averting approximately 3.65 million deaths last year alone.
A significant portion of this success has been driven by US Government funding, which has provided about $200 to $250 million annually, approximately a quarter of the total international donor funding secured.–APP
