World Health Investigation Podcast

Was the U.S. Lowkey Justified in Pulling Aid? The Global Fallout of a Billion-Dollar Breakup

Season 4 Episode 3

When the U.S. froze global health aid, chaos followed — layoffs, stalled programs, and a whole lot of political drama. But was the U.S. lowkey justified in pulling out? 👀 In this episode, we unpack America’s messy breakup with global health. Expect debate, a crash course on global health funding, and a few hot takes on aid, power, and who really benefits when the money stops flowing.

Key Sources:

  1. Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid - https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/reevaluating-and-realigning-united-states-foreign-aid/ 
  2. USAID cuts are already hitting countries around the world. Here are 20 projects that have closed - https://apnews.com/article/usaid-cuts-hunger-sickness-288b1d3f80d85ad749a6d758a778a5b2 
  3. 10 Things to Know About U.S. Funding for Global Health - https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/10-things-to-know-about-u-s-funding-for-global-health/ 
  4. Are the World's Largest Donors Cutting Their Bilateral Aid to Africa? - https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2024/10/africa-development-aid-oecd-china?lang=en 
  5. Africa relies too heavily on foreign aid for health – 4 ways to fix this - https://theconversation.com/africa-relies-too-heavily-on-foreign-aid-for-health-4-ways-to-fix-this-249886 

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