UN health agencies sound the alarm

WHO: The Trump administration has been especially tough with the World Health Organization. One of his earliest executive orders announced a US pullout from the UN health agency, which can't take full effect until next January, as well as a recall of US staff working with WHO and funding pauses.

WHO says a global measles and rubella lab network is "at risk of collapse" because its cost of about $8 million a year is entirely funded by the US. The funding cuts have affected the global response to mpox, and WHO has tapped its own emergency funds to fill gaps left in the response to Ebola in Uganda.

On Wednesday, WHO said US cuts in bilateral funding to fight tuberculosis will have a "devastating response on TB programs"—which the United States has generally contributed $200-$250 million to every year over the last decade.

UNAIDS: The AIDS-fighting agency said Wednesday that US funding has "served as the backbone" for HIV prevention in many countries hit hard by the virus. US funding amounts to 55% of the total AIDS budget in Uganda, and the funding freeze has led to the closure of drop-in centers and service points that provide antiretroviral therapy.

It said a rapid assessment estimated that 750,000 people in Haiti are affected by the US freeze, and 70% of the 181 total sites funded through the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, had closed: "Patients have flooded the remaining sites, which are unable to meet the increased demand."

A "large portion" of PEPFAR-funded staff working on HIV response in South Africa will be affected because dozens of USAID implementing partners received termination letters last week, UNAIDS said.

At a regular briefing Thursday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric highlighted the impact of funding cuts on Afghanistan alone, saying more than 200 health facilities have closed, depriving 1.8 million people from essential health services in the country.

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