Trump’s aid cuts deny one million women a week access to contraception

On 20 January, USAID issued a blanket “stop-work” order to all of its partners, demanding that organisations cease operations. In early February, the Trump administration fired the majority of all 10,000-plus USAID workers, leaving around just 290 employees.

Though a US federal judge issued a temporary order to lift the aid freeze on 14 February, there is no clear evidence yet that programmes are back in action, with many hesitant to act under rapidly changing guidance.

USAID’s reach across the world cannot be overstated. Some 141 countries relied on some form of USAID in 2024, worth $42.5bn (£33.3bn) in 2023 (the last available year).

Around $600m each year of USAID funding has been spent on family planning; and now, the impact of its withdrawal is being felt worldwide.

For every week without USAID, nearly one million women and girls worldwide are denied contraceptive care, according to analysis from the Guttmacher Institute, a leading reproductive health policy organisation.

An average of 130,390 women received contraceptive care each day from US-funded programmes before the freeze.

As a result of the immediate stop-work order, some 912,730 women will not receive contraception each week; amounting to approximately 3.8 million women who are estimated to have already been denied contraceptive care since the freeze (between 20 January and 18 February).

Most of these programmes are in sub-Saharan Africa, with funding going to family planning in Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and more.

But the withdrawal of USAID will impact all sectors of global health; not least maternal health, where USAID has been vital to healthcare infrastructure in many of these countries.

“Looking at the wider landscape in addition to family planning, when you take away maternal health services as well, which is what’s happening, there’s a cascading effect,” a USAID official explained.

With gaps in midwives, equipment, and pre- and post-natal care, the risk of maternal death is likely to increase, in addition to pregnancy complications.

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Source: The Independent, 18 February 2025