The Trump administration has moved to stop the supply of lifesaving drugs for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, as well as medical supplies for newborn babies, in countries supported by USAID around the globe, a memo reviewed by Reuters shows.
On Tuesday, contractors and partners who work with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) began receiving such memos to stop work immediately, sources said. The move is part of a wider freeze on US aid and funding put in place since Trump took office on Jan 20, while programmes are reviewed.
One such memo went to Chemonics, a large US consulting firm that works with USAID on the supply of medicines for a range of conditions worldwide.
The memo covers the firm’s work on HIV, malaria and tuberculosis as well as contraception and maternal and child health supplies, one USAID source and one former USAID official told Reuters.
“This is catastrophic,” said Atul Gawande, former head of global health at USAID who left the agency this month. “Donated drug supplies are keeping 20 million people living with HIV alive. That stops today.”
Chemonics and USAID did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Interruptions in treatment for diseases mean that patients risk getting sick, as well as, in the case of HIV in particular, transmitting the virus to others. It also means drug-resistant strains may emerge, Gawande said.
He said other partners had also received notices that meant they would be unable to deliver medicines to clinics even if they had them in stock, or open the clinics if they are funded by the United States.
That includes organisations working with 6.5 million orphans and vulnerable children with HIV in 23 countries, Gawande said.
Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance on Jan 20, the day he took the oath of office, pending assessments of efficiencies and consistency with US foreign policy.
His administration has also put on leave about 60 senior career officials at USAID, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The administration’s actions threaten billions of dollars of life-saving aid from the world’s largest single donor. In fiscal year 2023, the US disbursed $72 billion in assistance. It provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024. (Story continues below)
The Mae La refugee camp in Tak province of Thailand is the largest in the country, housing about 35,000 people, mostly Karen from Myanmar. (Photo: Mikhail Esteves via Wikimedia Commons)
Refugee camps in Thailand affected
The announcement is also having an impact in Thailand, where nine camps house about 100,000 refugees from Myanmar. The BBC reported on Monday that civil society groups were facing difficulties carrying out operations in the refugee camps after Trump announced the aid freeze.
A refugee hospital in one camp was reportedly forced to reduce staff due to a partial freeze in US funding, forcing some patients to leave due to staff shortages.
Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin said the Thai government would find a way to continue supporting healthcare services for refugees.
“We cannot abandon or chase them away since they have lived here in the camps for a long time,” he said on Tuesday.