Forecasting models predicted that the current steep funding cuts could result in more than 14 051 750 (uncertainty interval 8 475 990–19 662 191) additional all-age deaths, including 4 537 157 (3 124 796–5 910 791) in children younger than age 5 years, by 2030.

Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis

The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola—for which there are no drugs or vaccines—continues to spread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda and threaten neighboring countries in Central Africa. A month after the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern, many experts are tracing the outbreak’s magnitude in part to disinvestment in global health security, including through the July 2025 dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which had led the U.S.’s humanitarian and development efforts abroad since the 1960s. The vast majority of staff and projects were terminated; those remaining were absorbed by the U.S. State Department.

Ebola’s spread fueled by cuts in humanitarian aid