US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the end of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Tuesday as a new analysis found that its demolition could contribute to 14 million deaths in the next five years. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end. Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests,\u201d Rubio said in a post on Substack Tuesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance. Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies\u2014and which advance American interests \u2014 will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The rapid destruction of USAID, led by the Elon-Musk backed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has seen thousands of foreign assistance programs slashed, including many focused on lifesaving work. <\/p>\n
A study published Monday in The Lancet estimates that the USAID funding cuts could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030. Nearly a third of those deaths \u2013 more than 4.5 million \u2013 are estimated to be among children younger than 5. <\/p>\n
Authors of the study said that the effects of the funding cuts \u201cwould be similar in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike those events, however, this crisis would stem from a conscious and avoidable policy choice\u2014one whose burden would fall disproportionately on children and younger populations, and whose consequences could reverberate for decades,\u201d they wrote. <\/p>\n
USAID funding was most likely to reduce mortality related to HIV\/AIDS, followed by malaria, according to the Lancet study. Strong associations were also found with tropical diseases, diarrhoeal disease, nutritional deficiencies, lower respiratory infections, maternal mortality and tuberculosis. <\/p>\n
A senior State Department official downplayed the Lancet\u2019s findings, saying Tuesday, \u201ca lot of these sort of studies are based on incorrect assumptions about what Secretary Rubio intends to and has done before.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s been very clear that a lot of the life-saving work that we do will continue and will be made more efficient,\u201d the official said. <\/p>\n
However, aid groups have said that USAID\u2019s swift dismantlement, coupled with a sudden and sweeping freeze on foreign assistance in January, has already had devastating consequences. <\/p>\n
The official was largely dismissive of criticism of the administration\u2019s moves. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can go back and relitigate all these little decisions. That\u2019s not our focus. That\u2019s not the secretary\u2019s focus. We are excited about what sort of the America first foreign assistance agenda is going to look like and how much impact we can have moving forward,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n
Rubio described the new approach as \u201cprioritizing trade over aid, opportunity over dependency, and investment over assistance.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cMoving forward, our assistance will be targeted and time limited. We will favor those nations that have demonstrated both the ability and willingness to help themselves and will target our resources to areas where they can have a multiplier effect and catalyze durable private sector, including American companies, and global investment,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n
The official said the administration is looking at new metrics to gauge the success of US assistance work. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to see sort of more bilateral engagement. We want to see more investment from our partners, co-investment. We want to see trade deals, compacts, agreements, to work together on stuff,\u201d they said. \u201cThose are a big indicator of success for us.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we want to do with this is build bridges bilaterally consistent with the president\u2019s sort of mission and diplomatic agenda more broadly,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n
The senior official repeatedly raised the example of PEPFAR, the US President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and said their work would continue in a \u201cmore efficient\u201d and \u201cmore impactful\u201d way. Bipartisan lawmakers have long supported the initiative, which was launched by President George W. Bush. <\/p>\n
In 2023, 60% of PEPFAR\u2019s bilateral HIV assistance was obligated and implemented by USAID, according to the Lancet study. <\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the PEPFAR program is up and running today. Between 85 and 90% of the direct treatment beneficiaries are receiving their medications,\u201d they said. \u201cWe intend to sort of put out a really long-term comprehensive roadmap in the coming weeks and months about what we intend to do with PEPFAR.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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