Following U.S. funding cuts under former President Donald Trump, critical health clinics across Nigeria and several African countries have shut down, disrupting essential services. In Nigeria’s Borno State—an area already strained by conflict—clinics that once treated up to 300 patients daily have closed, leaving communities without access to free medication or mosquito nets, according to affected health workers.
The pullback of USAID, a major foreign aid agency, is dismantling health systems that relied on a mix of government support, private partners, NGOs, and international funding. In Nigeria—where 30% of the world’s 600,000 annual malaria de@ths occur—the timing is dire, with malaria cases expected to spike at the end of the rainy season.
The consequences are escalating: malnutrition clinics have shut down in Nigeria, medical supply chains in Mali are breaking down, and children in South Sudan are traveling long distances for cholera treatment—some not surviving the journey. Refugee camps in Kenya are also facing critical shortages of medicine.
“The wealthy may still access treatment, but the poorest, especially in remote regions of Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, will be left behind,” said Lawrence Barat, a former senior advisor to the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative. “These are the children who will d+e.”
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