As most people are aware, USAID has been one of the agencies that have been most impacted by the cuts of President Donald Trump. Trump said that USAID was run by “radical lunatics.” Elon Musk, the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, called USAID “a criminal and evil organization” whose “time to die” has arrived. Although USAID is not perfect (no organization is), this is at a minimum a huge distortion of their work. USAID’s contribution to easing suffering and helping the needy has been amazing and recognized around the world.

As USAID does its work mostly in countries with limited resources, some people may not be aware of the impact of the cuts that have occurred. Founded originally by President John F. Kennedy, USAID has provided humanitarian assistance in health, education, disaster relief and economic growth to millions of people around the world. One of its most successful programs is PEPFAR, providing HIV treatment to developing countries. Started by President George W. Bush, PEPFAR has saved the lives of millions of people and has also estimated to have reduced the spread of HIV to over 5 million newborn babies.

When one looks at the huge number of people affected by the USAID cuts, it is hard to really grasp the impact of what is happening and to appreciate the tragedies that are happening on a personal level. We (as part of Well On their Way) have been traveling to Northern Uganda near the South Sudan border for over a decade and have firsthand knowledge of the challenges of providing health care in rural Uganda. After the 20 year long civil war in Northern Uganda finally ended, we started providing training to the health staff of the government clinics on maternal child health. We have worked closely with the Ministry of Health and personally with midwives, clinical officers, and nurses for years. We returned from our most recent trip only a week before Trump announced his gutting of USAID. Since this policy change, we continue to be in close contact with our medical colleagues in Uganda to determine what they have experienced since the funding of USAID has abruptly stopped. They describe closed offices at USAID funded buildings that provide a vast array of services in Uganda.

An example is Uganda Health Activities (UHA), an organization that has been providing multiple services in maternal and child health. They have helped improve the number of women attending antenatal care, made sure that high risk pregnant women receive special care and have helped ensure that all maternal and perinatal deaths are reviewed and audited to improve outcomes. They have helped to improve children’s immunization rates, ensure that children have had a nutritional assessment, and have improved the number of children using bed nets to prevent malaria. Two days after Trump cut USAID, UHA closed their offices, and they remain shuttered.

Another organization in northern Uganda directly impacted by the cuts is The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) which has provided treatment of HIV, malaria and TB. One of our Ugandan colleagues said that all but one office of TASO is now closed which is “increasing the risks of new HIV infection,” the likelihood “HIV positive patients will develop advanced disease,” and maternal and infant mortality. Another colleague wrote that “clinicians offering HIV care and treatment support, nurses and midwives in Maternal Child health” have “all lost their jobs due to shutdown of USAID. Several community projects for nutrition and WASH [Water, Sanitation and Hygiene] also shutdown.”

Northern Uganda is one small area of one country where the evisceration of USAID has directly impacted the health care and lives of many wonderful people. Although they may not live in our local community, they are part of our global village, and these actions are not reflective of the United States that we thought we knew.

Dr. Matthew Kane is financial director, and his wife, Dr. Ann Markes, is executive director, of Well On Their Way. They live in Northampton.