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Salim Abdool Karim, chair of the Africa CDC's emergency consultative group, has called Trump's "abrupt closure of USAID support for the mpox control effort in Africa" a "major blow."
Nearly 800,000 doses of the mpox vaccine, which were initially promised to fight the epidemic in Africa, are set to go to waste due to Trump's cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development.
According to Politico, which quotes the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccine doses cannot be shipped because they are too close to their expiration date.
"For a vaccine to be shipped to a country, we need a minimum of six months before expiration to ensure that the vaccine can arrive in good condition and also allow the country to implement the vaccination," said Yap Boum, an Africa CDC deputy incident manager.
In September, the Biden administration pledged that the U.S. would provide more than 1 million doses to fight the epidemic in Africa, which has killed nearly 2,000 people, many of them children.
However, Politico reports that just 91,000 of them were delivered, and only 220,000 of them still have a long enough shelf life to be used if the Trump administration signs off on them.
The continent is already facing a dangerous shortage of mpox immunizations. As Science reported last month:
In September 2024, Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly issued an mpox "continental preparedness and response plan" that called for vaccinating 10 million people in Africa within 6 months. An updated version of the plan, issued in April, narrowed who should be offered the vaccine and scaled back the target to 6.4 million people by August.
But according to a May 29 WHO situation report, only 720,000 people in seven African countries have received mpox vaccines. Doses are scarce, vaccination teams are short on health workers and transportation, and identifying who might have been exposed to the mpox virus and should get the vaccine first is a challenge.
Salim Abdool Karim, chair of the Africa CDC's emergency consultative group, called Trump's "abrupt closure of USAID support for the mpox control effort in Africa" a "major blow, especially since it played a key role in the logistics of vaccine storage and distribution."
A June report by Public Citizen put the striking shortfall of doses into even greater perspective. The group reported that Africa had nearly six times fewer doses of the vaccine than the United States had during the 2022-23 outbreak, which was markedly less severe than what Africa currently faces.
Graphic: Public Citizen www.citizen.org
They pointed to high prices charged by the vaccine's manufacturer, Bavarian Nordic. The company has sold the vaccines to UNICEF for $65 per dose, making them the second most expensive drug UNICEF pays for.
UNICEF called for Bavarian Nordic to quarter the price of the drug and increase doses available to fight the crisis, but the company did not respond to the request. As a result, UNICEF fell 350,000 doses short of the one million that it had hoped to commit.
This shortfall was made worse by the actions taken by the Trump administration. While halting USAID operations, the U.S. also ceased cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), which is a major player in organizing the allocation of vaccines.
The Trump administration's actions, the report said, have "prompted a concurrent crisis of disrupted care and severe funding shortfalls across a range of disease areas and health services."
Mpox vaccines are not the only form of international aid going to waste as a direct result of the Trump administration's cuts to USAID.
On Monday, Hana Kiros reported in The Atlantic that the Trump administration had given the order "to incinerate food instead of sending it to people abroad who need it":
Nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food—enough to feed about 1.5 million children for a week—are set to expire [Tuesday], according to current and former government employees with direct knowledge of the rations. Within weeks, two of those sources told me, the food, meant for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will be ash.
The Trump administration formally shut down USAID on July 1, after cancelling 83% of its programs at the beginning of Trump's term.
On the same day, a study was published in The Lancet, revealing that the organization's efforts over the past two decades had saved over 90 million lives, with the biggest reductions in mortality coming from its work to prevent HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other tropical diseases.
"Is [USAID] a good use of resources? We found that the average taxpayer has contributed about 18 cents per day to USAID," James Macinko, a health policy researcher at UCLA and study co-author, told NPR. "For that small amount, we've been able to translate that into saving up to 90 million deaths around the world."
According to Impact Counter, a database created by Brooke Nichols, associate professor of global health at the Boston University School of Public Health, nearly 250,000 children and 120,000 adults already had died over less than six months as a result of cuts to these programs, as of June 26.
According to the Lancet study, if those cuts extend into 2030, 14 million people who might otherwise have lived—including millions more children—might die.
"These deaths will not be the result of droughts, earthquakes, pandemics, or war," said Olivier De Schutter in a piece published Friday in Common Dreams. "They will be the direct consequence of a single, lethal decision made by one of the wealthiest men to ever walk this planet."
"For a vaccine to be shipped to a country, we need a minimum of six months before expiration to ensure that the vaccine can arrive in good condition and also allow the country to implement the vaccination," said Yap Boum, an Africa CDC deputy incident manager.
In September, the Biden administration pledged that the U.S. would provide more than 1 million doses to fight the epidemic in Africa, which has killed nearly 2,000 people, many of them children.
However, Politico reports that just 91,000 of them were delivered, and only 220,000 of them still have a long enough shelf life to be used if the Trump administration signs off on them.
The continent is already facing a dangerous shortage of mpox immunizations. As Science reported last month:
In September 2024, Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly issued an mpox "continental preparedness and response plan" that called for vaccinating 10 million people in Africa within 6 months. An updated version of the plan, issued in April, narrowed who should be offered the vaccine and scaled back the target to 6.4 million people by August.
But according to a May 29 WHO situation report, only 720,000 people in seven African countries have received mpox vaccines. Doses are scarce, vaccination teams are short on health workers and transportation, and identifying who might have been exposed to the mpox virus and should get the vaccine first is a challenge.
Salim Abdool Karim, chair of the Africa CDC's emergency consultative group, called Trump's "abrupt closure of USAID support for the mpox control effort in Africa" a "major blow, especially since it played a key role in the logistics of vaccine storage and distribution."
A June report by Public Citizen put the striking shortfall of doses into even greater perspective. The group reported that Africa had nearly six times fewer doses of the vaccine than the United States had during the 2022-23 outbreak, which was markedly less severe than what Africa currently faces.
Graphic: Public Citizen www.citizen.org
They pointed to high prices charged by the vaccine's manufacturer, Bavarian Nordic. The company has sold the vaccines to UNICEF for $65 per dose, making them the second most expensive drug UNICEF pays for.
UNICEF called for Bavarian Nordic to quarter the price of the drug and increase doses available to fight the crisis, but the company did not respond to the request. As a result, UNICEF fell 350,000 doses short of the one million that it had hoped to commit.
This shortfall was made worse by the actions taken by the Trump administration. While halting USAID operations, the U.S. also ceased cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), which is a major player in organizing the allocation of vaccines.
The Trump administration's actions, the report said, have "prompted a concurrent crisis of disrupted care and severe funding shortfalls across a range of disease areas and health services."
Mpox vaccines are not the only form of international aid going to waste as a direct result of the Trump administration's cuts to USAID.
On Monday, Hana Kiros reported in The Atlantic that the Trump administration had given the order "to incinerate food instead of sending it to people abroad who need it":
Nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food—enough to feed about 1.5 million children for a week—are set to expire [Tuesday], according to current and former government employees with direct knowledge of the rations. Within weeks, two of those sources told me, the food, meant for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will be ash.
The Trump administration formally shut down USAID on July 1, after cancelling 83% of its programs at the beginning of Trump's term.
On the same day, a study was published in The Lancet, revealing that the organization's efforts over the past two decades had saved over 90 million lives, with the biggest reductions in mortality coming from its work to prevent HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other tropical diseases.
"Is [USAID] a good use of resources? We found that the average taxpayer has contributed about 18 cents per day to USAID," James Macinko, a health policy researcher at UCLA and study co-author, told NPR. "For that small amount, we've been able to translate that into saving up to 90 million deaths around the world."
According to Impact Counter, a database created by Brooke Nichols, associate professor of global health at the Boston University School of Public Health, nearly 250,000 children and 120,000 adults already had died over less than six months as a result of cuts to these programs, as of June 26.
According to the Lancet study, if those cuts extend into 2030, 14 million people who might otherwise have lived—including millions more children—might die.
"These deaths will not be the result of droughts, earthquakes, pandemics, or war," said Olivier De Schutter in a piece published Friday in Common Dreams. "They will be the direct consequence of a single, lethal decision made by one of the wealthiest men to ever walk this planet."
"Children's bodies are wasting away," the agency said. "This is not just a nutrition crisis. It's a child survival emergency."
More than 5,800 children in the Gaza Strip were diagnosed with malnutrition in June alone amid Israel's ongoing U.S.-backed siege and annihilation of the Palestinian territory, the United Nations Children's Fund said Sunday.
According to the UNICEF, at least 5,870 malnourished children in Gaza were hospitalized last month for urgent treatment, including more than 1,000 cases of severe malnutrition, the most lethal form of the ailment. Malnutrition diagnoses have increased in Gaza over each of the past four months. In May, 5,119 children between 6 months and 5 years of age suffering acute malnutrition were admitted for treatment in Gaza, as Common Dreams reported.
"Child malnutrition in Gaza is rising fast," the agency warned in a statement. "Children's bodies are wasting away. This is not just a nutrition crisis. It's a child survival emergency."
Gaza medical officials said late last month that more than 300 Palestinians—including many children and elders—had recently died from malnutrition and lack of medical care due to Israel's siege and bombing. The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 67 children have died of starvation since October 2023, when Israeli forces began obliterating the enclave in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
In addition to blocking food and other humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, Israel Defense Forces troops have killed more than 800 people at or near food distribution points run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. IDF officers and soldiers say they were ordered to fire live bullets and artillery shells into crowds of desperate aid-seekers.
In recent days, Israeli forces have also massacred children and others queued up for malnutrition treatment at an international charity clinic in Deir al-Balah and waiting for water in the al-Nuseirat refugee camp. The IDF attributed the latter attack to a "technical error."
More than 310 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East staffers have also been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the Gaza onslaught.
Israel's forced starvation of Gaza has been condemned by numerous national governments, progressive members of U.S. Congress, international human rights groups, and United Nations experts, who have called the policy genocidal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder and forced starvation.
Israel's policies and practices in Gaza are also the subject of a genocide case currently before the International Court of Justice, which has ordered tIsrael to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza and to allow humanitarian aid into the strip. Israel has been accused of ignoring these orders. Israeli leaders including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have called for the bombing of Gaza humanitarian aid depots and IDF soldiers—who purportedly fight for the "word's most moral army"—have posted videos on social media celebrating or mocking the starvation of Palestinians.
Since October 2023, at least 58,386 Palestinians have been killed and more than 139,000 wounded by Israeli forces in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures have been found to be accurate or an undercount by peer-reviewed studies. At least 14,000 people are also missing. Most of Gaza's more than 2 million people have also been forcibly displaced, often multiple times.
Gaza's Government Media Office said Israeli forces have killed more than 700 people at water distribution sites since October 2023.
Israeli forces on Sunday killed at least 10 people—most of them children—as they attempted to obtain water at a distribution point in central Gaza, an attack that came as Israel's military was accused of intentionally depriving Palestinians of access to water as part of its U.S.-backed genocidal assault on the enclave.
The attack on Sunday killed seven children and injured more than a dozen people, drawing international outrage.
"Yet again we're seeing horrific reports of the killing of seven children in Gaza, this time as they were waiting for water at a distribution site," said Catherine Russell, executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund. "This comes just days after several children and women were killed waiting for nutritional supplies."
"The Israeli authorities must urgently review the rules of engagement and ensure full compliance with international humanitarian law, notably the protection of civilians, including children," Russell added. "UNICEF calls for an immediate and lasting cease-fire, aid at scale, and release of hostages."
The Israeli military acknowledged that it carried out the attack but denied it was trying to hit the water distribution point, claiming that a "technical error" caused the missile to miss its purported target—an Islamic Jihad militant—by dozens of meters.
Gaza's Government Media Office said in a statement early Monday that Israeli forces have killed more than 700 people in more than 100 attacks on water distribution sites since October 2023. The media office also said the Israeli government has prevented 12 million liters of fuel from entering the enclave per month, "the minimum amount needed to operate water wells, sewage treatment plants, waste collection vehicles, and other vital sectors."
"The Gaza Strip is today witnessing a major crime of deprivation of water, perpetrated deliberately and systematically by the Israeli occupation, amidst complete international silence and the direct and indirect participation of European and Western countries implicated in supporting or complicit in the crime of genocide," the office said.
Leading humanitarian organizations, including Oxfam and Human Rights Watch (HRW), have also accused the Israeli government of using water as a weapon of war in the Gaza Strip by cutting off supply and decimating the enclave's existing infrastructure, including wells and desalination plants.
The International Rescue Committee said last week that Gaza's "entire water system has broken down" and warned that "there is simply not enough clean water to meet the needs of the population in Gaza."
"When clean water is unavailable, the consequences extend far beyond thirst; families are forced to rely on unsafe water sources for cooking, cleaning, and bathing, heightening the risk of disease outbreaks like skin conditions, diarrhea, and hepatitis," the group said. "This compounds the burden on Gaza's collapsing health system, particularly in overcrowded shelters with limited hygiene options."
Israeli forces have also been massacring civilians at food distribution sites in recent weeks as famine spreads throughout Gaza.
The United Nations said on Friday that it recorded 798 killings at food distribution locations in Gaza between May 27 and July 7, with the overwhelming majority occurring in the vicinity of sites managed by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
"They have a choice between being shot or being fed," said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office.