Back in 2025, we documented some of the real life stories behind the dramatic foreign assistance pause and subsequent cuts to lifesaving humanitarian programs overseas. Since then, Congress has continued to fund many of these programs and much of the important work that the US has done for decades lives on.
Although the administration requested a cut of more than 50% in international affairs funding for 2026, Congress appropriated significantly higher levels that represented only a 16% reduction, with the global health account being reduced by only 6%. But the disruptions and chaos were real, and continue to have consequences.
While reliable estimates of lives lost due to cuts are tenuous, many news organizations continue to cover the stories of impact. DevEx launched a website—The Aid Report—that collates and organizes these stories based on region and thematic topic.
You might have also heard that “no one has died” as a result of disruptions to that life-saving foreign assistance funding.
This narrative is both demonstrably false and incredibly dangerous.
You can check out the map below to see the stories that ONE highlighted last year. But we’ve also highlighted a handful of new ones to show the continuing impact.
- USAID cuts under the Trump administration are linked to at least three documented child deaths in Nigeria and Kenya in 2025-2026, per NPR and photojournalist collective The Everyday Projects. A 10-year-old Nigerian boy died of an asthma attack after losing access to free medication; a 16-year-old Kenyan girl died of tuberculosis after USAID-funded community health workers who might have caught it early were laid off; an 8-year-old Nigerian boy died of typhoid after his family couldn’t afford a second round of antibiotics once funding lapsed. Separately, Boston University researcher Brooke Nichols estimates the shutdown caused over 700,000 deaths globally in one year, including more than 500,000 children. The State Department didn’t address the specific cases, instead citing new bilateral health MOUs with Kenya and Nigeria — though these represent a 22-23% cut versus prior USAID funding, and experts say the abrupt shutdown, not just the funding level, is what broke trust and supply chains. (Source: NPR)
- Trump administration cuts to PEPFAR forced the closure of at least 1,700 H.I.V. service sites and the layoff of over 16,000 workers in 2025, according to an amfAR survey of 166 organizations across 46 countries — with just six organizations accounting for 85% of closures. Three-quarters of organizations stopped serving the populations at highest risk (sex workers, MSM, transgender people, people who inject drugs) to comply with new policy restrictions, and a separate study found PEPFAR-supported treatment for children fell 14% in 2025 (over 45% in India and South Africa), against a State Department claim that its data shows no such decline. The disruptions also hit local organizations hardest — the opposite of the administration’s stated goal — and caused supply-chain problems for condoms, lab supplies, and antiretroviral drugs even at sites that stayed open. (Source: New York Times)
Some have questioned why the governments, the private sector, or private philanthropy did not step in to fill the gap. The truth is they did and are continuing to do so.
- The Nigerian government increased its domestic health spending by $200 million within a month of the announcement of cuts.
- South Africa boosted its HIV/AIDS funding to offset losses from foreign assistance.
- Gilead Sciences committed to increase supply of Lenacapavir, its cutting edge HIV prevention drug, to reach 3 million people in high-incidence, low resource countries by 2028.
- The Gates Foundation announced its plan to accelerate giving with the goal of shuttering the Foundation’s doors by the end of 2045.
- CoEfficient Giving announced it would increase its giving from $175 million to $1 billion for 2026.
While other actors stepped in, the rapid and chaotic nature of the disruptions and the lack of transparency with which they were carried out resulted in persistent gaps. And while philanthropy and the private sector play an important role in realizing development outcomes, they cannot replace the influence and economic power of the United States government. Strategic investment by the US continues to make our own country safer, stronger and more prosperous.
Too often, global moments are measured by lives lost – conflicts, pandemics, natural disasters. The creation of effective, accountable, and life-saving programs like PEPFAR, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance ushered in an era that could be measured by lives saved.
At ONE, we believe actions speak louder than words. In the wake of foreign assistance cuts around the world, our global community of activists have taken thousands of actions to make sure world leaders know: Slashing lifesaving programs is not in anyone’s best interest.
