US aid cuts would harm Africa’s efforts to counter disease outbreaks and would leave many health systems in the continent in disarray, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Jean Kaseya said.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the African health ministers meeting, Kaseya, said the aid cuts affecting governments and their partners in the non-governmental sector, have shut down or disrupted projects tackling diseases ranging from malaria to AIDS.
To reduce government spending, president Trump ordered the termination of most foreign aid contracts, aiming to cut over 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding.
The reform plans to eliminate approximately $60 billion in global assistance.
Many of the affected programs are in fragile countries that are highly reliant on U.S. aid to support health systems, nutrition programs and stave off starvation.
Kaseya cited the immediate impact in Congo, which is the epicenter of Mpox outbreaks in Africa and where aid cuts and insecurity in the country’s east have contributed to challenges in countering the outbreak.
Aid cuts have also impeded the collection and transportation of vaccine samples in Congo, Kaseya said.
“We know this aid cut is a difficult moment for our countries, and it came overnight,” he said. “Some of them were not prepared for this major aid cut.”
Kaseya said the US funding cuts are part of a globally diminishing financial support to address highly contagious diseases such as Ebola.