Category: News & Stories

US funding cuts are severely impacting people in areas of Somalia affected by chronic drought, food insecurity, and displacement due to conflict. In the Baidoa and Mudug regions, the scaling down of operations by aid organizations—driven by US funding cuts and a broader lack of humanitarian aid—is making a shortage of health services and nutrition programs even more critical. For example, the closure of maternal and child health clinics and a therapeutic feeding center in Baidoa cut off monthly care to hundreds of malnourished children. MSF nutrition programs in Baidoa have reported an increase in severe acute malnutrition admissions since the funding cuts. The MSF-supported Bay Regional Hospital has received patients traveling as far as 120 miles for care due to facility closures elsewhere.

Cuts to PEPFAR and USAID have led to suspensions and closures of HIV programs in countries including South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe—threatening the lives of people receiving antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. South Africa's pioneering Treatment Action Campaign—which helped transform the country’s response to HIV/AIDS—has had to drastically reduce its community-led monitoring system that helps ensure that people stay on treatment. The monitoring is now only happening at a small scale at clinics. In MSF’s program in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, there has been a 70 percent increase in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) tablet distribution from January to March compared to the previous quarter, as well as an increase of 30 percent in consultations for health services, including for HIV—highlighting the growing demand as USAID funding cuts reduce access to other HIV prevention services.

In the border regions across South Sudan and Ethiopia, MSF teams are responding to a rampant cholera outbreak amid escalating violence—while other organizations have scaled down their presence. According to our teams, a number of organizations, including Save the Children, have suspended mobile clinic activities in South Sudan’s Akobo County due to US aid cuts. Save the Children reported earlier this month that at least five children and three adults with cholera died while making the long, hot trek to seek treatment in this part of South Sudan. With the withdrawal of these organizations, local health authorities are now facing significant limitations in their ability to respond effectively to the outbreak. MSF has warned that the disruption of mobile services, combined with the reduced capacity of other actors to support oral vaccination campaigns, increases the risk of preventable deaths and the continued spread of this highly infectious disease.

MSF teams in more than 20 countries have reported concerns with disrupted or suspended sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programs, which MSF relies on for referrals for medical emergencies, supplies, and technical partnerships. These include contexts with already high levels of maternal and infant mortality. In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh—home to one of the world’s largest refugee camps—MSF teams report that other implementers are not able to provide SRH supplies, like emergency birth kits and contraceptives. Referrals for medical emergencies, like post-abortion care, have also been disrupted, increasing urgent needs for SRH care in the region.

In the initial weeks following the aid freeze, our teams saw several organizations stop the distribution of drinking water for displaced people in conflict-affected areas, including in Sudan’s Darfur region, Ethiopia's Tigray region, and Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. In response to the crisis in Port-au-Prince, in March, MSF stepped in to run a water distribution system via tanker trucks to provide for more than 13,000 people living in four camps for communities displaced by violent clashes between armed groups and police. This was in addition to our regular activities focused on providing medical care for victims of violence. Ensuring access to clean drinking water is essential for health and preventing the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera.

The reported decision by the US to cut funding to Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, could have disastrous consequences for children across the globe. The organization estimated that the loss of US support is projected to deny approximately 75 million children routine vaccinations in the next five years, with more than 1.2 million children potentially dying as a result. Worldwide, more than half of the vaccines MSF uses come from local ministries of health and are procured through Gavi. We could see the impacts in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where MSF vaccinates more children than anywhere else in the world. In 2023 alone, MSF vaccinated more than 2 million people in DRC against diseases like measles and cholera.

In Ethiopia’s Kule refugee camp, where MSF teams run a health center for more than 50,000 South Sudanese refugees, a US-funded organization abruptly halted mental health and social services for survivors of sexual violence and withdrew their staff. MSF teams provide other medical care but cannot currently cover the mental health and social services these patients need.

In Zimbabwe, US funding cuts have forced a local provider to stop its community outreach activities to identify women to be screened for cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in Zimbabwe, even though it is preventable. Many women and girls—especially in rural areas—cannot afford or do not have access to diagnosis and treatment, which makes outreach, screening, and prevention activities vital.

Cholera is an acute bacterial infection caused by Vibrio cholerae. It spreads mainly through contaminated water and food – especially in regions with limited access to clean drinking water and inadequate hygiene infrastructure.

Cholera occurs worldwide, with the highest numbers of cases in regions with poor water systems and sanitation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 4 million people are infected with cholera every year, and up to 140,000 die from its consequences. (See: https://www.who.int/health-topics/cholera)

The disease is particularly prevalent in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In humanitarian emergencies such as conflict zones or after natural hazards, the risk of outbreaks increases significantly – as people are often crowded together without access to clean water.

Symptoms of cholera can appear within just a few hours and up to a few days after infection. The disease is characterised by severe watery diarrhoea, which can lead to extreme dehydration, circulatory collapse, and – if left untreated – death.

However, with early treatment using oral rehydration solutions or intravenous fluids, over 99 per cent of patients recover fully.

In our medical projects, we operate specialised cholera treatment centres to care for infected patients and help stop the spread of the disease. These centres are structured to ensure isolation and safe care.

In acute emergencies, our teams can set up these treatment centres within days to respond quickly to outbreaks.

The cholera vaccination is a proven and effective tool for preventing infection. It is administered orally and is considered a live vaccine. The WHO recommends the vaccine for people living in endemic areas or travelling to high-risk regions.

After two doses, the vaccine provides around 85% protection, which remains at approximately 60% after three years. In outbreak situations, a single dose may be administered to protect as many people as possible quickly.

Access to the vaccine is especially limited in humanitarian crises. In many cases, vaccines cannot be produced or delivered quickly enough. Logistical hurdles, such as disrupted supply chains or lack of refrigeration, further complicate vaccination campaigns, especially in remote areas.

A limited number of manufacturers and high production costs add to the global supply shortage.

Affordability is also an issue. In Austria, the cholera vaccine costs around 70 euros. While prices vary by country and provider, they remain out of reach for many people worldwide.

We advocate for better distribution and more flexible vaccination strategies, working with governments and the WHO to improve access to vaccines for all.

As frontlines have shifted over the course of the war, especially in Khartoum and Darfur, civilians feared retaliatory attacks from both warring parties. For the past two years, both RSF and SAF have repeatedly and indiscriminately bombed densely populated areas. The RSF and allied militias have unleashed a campaign of brutality, including systematic sexual violence, abductions, mass killings, looting of aid, erasure of civilian neighbourhoods, and occupation of medical facilities. Both sides have laid siege to towns, destroyed vital infrastructure, and blocked humanitarian aid. 

Widespread starvation is taking hold, according to the UN, — Sudan is currently the only place in the world where famine has been officially declared in multiple locations. Famine was first declared in Zamzam camp, for internally displaced people, in August and has since spread to ten more areas. Seventeen additional regions are now on the brink. Without immediate intervention, hundreds of thousands of lives are at risk.  

In March MSF supported multi-antigen catch up vaccination campaigns for children under two in South Darfur.  The over 17,000 children, in 11 of the 14 localities, who received vaccinations were also screened for malnutrition showing 7% of those screened were suffering from severe acute malnutrition, with 30% with global acute malnutrition. In December 2024, during a therapeutic food distribution in Tawila locality, North Darfur, MSF teams screened over 9,500 children under five years old. They found a staggering 35.5% global acute malnutrition rate, with 7% of the children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.  

Simultaneously, Sudan is facing multiple, overlapping health emergencies. MSF teams have treated over 12,000 patients — including women and children — for trauma injuries directly resulting from violent attacks. During the first week of February 2025, MSF teams in three areas of Sudan - Khartoum, North Darfur, and South Darfur states - treated mass influxes of war-wounded patients. Sudan is also experiencing one of the worst maternal and child health crises we are seeing anywhere in the world. In October 2024, in two MSF-supported facilities in Nyala, capital of South Darfur, 26% of the pregnant and breastfeeding women seeking care were acutely malnourished. 

“Outbreaks of measles, cholera and diphtheria are spreading, driven by poor living conditions and disrupted vaccination campaigns. Mental health support and care for survivors of sexual violence remain painfully limited. These compounding crises reflect not just the brutality of the conflict, but the dire consequences of the crumbling public healthcare system and a failing humanitarian response”, says Marta Cazorla, MSF Emergency Coordinator. 

Since April 2023, more than 1.7 million people have sought medical consultations at hospitals, health facilities and mobile clinics MSF supports or is working in, and more than 32,000 people were admitted in our emergency wards. 

More than 13 million people have been displaced by the conflict, according to the UN — many of them multiple times. Of these, 8.9 million remain displaced inside Sudan, while 3.9 million have crossed into neighbouring countries. Many live in overcrowded camps or makeshift shelters, without access to food, water, healthcare, or a sense of future. People depend entirely on humanitarian organizations — but only where these organisations are responding. 

The rainy season, fast approaching, threatens to make an already catastrophic situation even worse — severing supply routes, flooding entire regions, and cutting off people just as the hunger gap peaks and malnutrition and malaria spike.