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 showed.
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 programs 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 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 were funded by the US.
That includes organizations working with 6.5 million orphans and vulnerable children with HIV in 23 countries, he 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 on Monday.
