TRUMP'S US INTENSIFIES ATTACK ON HEALTH

Funding cuts to Gavi threaten global vaccination efforts and millions of lives

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THE US cutting funding to Gavi, an organisation that provides vaccines to the world's poorest countries, could result in more than a million deaths and will endanger lives everywhere, the group's CEO warned.

The news that Washington is plan-ning to end funding for Gavi, first reported in the New York Times, comes as the two-month-old administration of President Donald Trump aggressively slashes foreign aid. The decision was included in a 281-page spreadsheet that the severely downsized United States Agency for International Development sent to Congress on Monday night. Gavi's chief executive Sania Nishtar told AFP the alliance had "not received a termination notice from the US gov-ernment".

The alliance was "engaging with the White House and Congress with a view to securing $300 million approved by Congress for our 2025 activities and longer-term funding", Nishtar said.