US to end funding for kids’ vaccines in poor countries

The 281-page document lists 898 programmes that will remain active, totalling $78b in spending much of which it says has already been disbursed

- File/ Reuters

President Donald Trump’s administration plans to end US funding for Gavi, an organisation that helps buy vaccines for children in poor countries, and will scale back efforts to combat malaria, among thousands of items revealed in a document prepared by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The administration will continue to fund some grants that pay for drugs that treat HIV and tuberculosis and provide food aid to nations where civil war and natural disasters are occurring, according to the document, which was first reported by the New York Times.

The document, which was reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday, lists international aid programmes that may be dismantled as well as those that will be retained.

Washington has drastically scaled back foreign aid since Trump took office, with around 8CI8 of contracts abruptly cut to align with the new administration’s “America First” policy, sowing widespread chaos, confusion and stifling worldwide.

The 281-page document lists $78 billion in spending - much of which it says has already been disbursed. In total, 5,341 awards will be terminated, representing just under $76 billion, the document says.