Experts warn of global health threat after Donald Trump makes huge cuts and freezes overseas aid

Global health experts have been left concerned after President Donald Trump made cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Trump's administration announced cuts to the agency's workforce, as well as plans to freeze a number of its aid programmes across the globe.

What is USAID?

USAID - which has around 10,000 staff - is the world's largest single donor of humanitarian aid, having spent over $40 million across the world in the fiscal year 2023.

The organization's spending is decided by Congress, and focuses mainly on providing aid overseas and supporting international charities. Some of the money goes to the likes of women’s health in conflict zones, access to clean water, and HIV/AIDS treatment.

While Trump's administration has criticized the agency's spending and announced huge cuts to its workforce, a number of health experts have expressed their concerns over the dismantling of USAID.

Trump's administration has announced cuts to USAID (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Criticism of the Trump administration's cuts

Dr Tom Wingfield, an expert in tuberculosis, spoke about some of the consequences of Trump's decision.

"People don't appreciate the extent and reach of USAID. It goes towards under-nutrition, hygiene, toilets, access to clean water, which all have a massive impact on TB and diarrhoeal diseases," he told BBC. "Diseases don't respect borders - that's even more the case where we have climate change and mass movement of people. Infectious diseases will spread.

"Whether it's a research project or a clinic affected, then we run risk of further transmission. People will die directly because of cuts in US funding."

Meanwhile, in South Africa, it's reported that some HIV services have stopped, something which Professor Peter Taylor has described as 'undermining people's trust'.

"Stopping things suddenly undermines people's trust. People are bewildered and angry," he said. "The undermining of basic trust is the real cost and that is being magnified in many situations around the world. This is so damaging to the US global reputation."

Professor Rosa Freedman, of the University of Reading, has said that health programmes could suffer greatly, which could lead to global problems when it comes to the spread of disease.

Experts have warned against the move (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

"This will be partly due to the prevention of further vaccines being distributed or funded by USAID," she said. "This could mean that preventable diseases, which we thought had been contained or even eradicated, could reappear or worsen, such as cholera and malaria.

"Given the globalised and interdependent nature of our planet, the concern will be that these diseases could spread quickly and far."

On Friday (February 7) a judge temporarily blocked Trump from placing over 2,000 workers at USAID on paid leave.

The order - which also reinstates 500 workers already on leave - will remain until 14 February.

"All USAID employees currently on administrative leave shall be reinstated until that date, and shall be given complete access to email, payment, and security notification systems until that date, and no additional employees shall be placed on administrative leave before that date," Judge Carl Nichols wrote.