A new study published in The Lancet Global Health warns that a precipitous decline in global aid could lead to 22.6 million additional preventable deaths by 2030 across 93 low- and middle-income countries. The research, conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, highlights that major donors – including the U.S., UK, France, and Germany – have begun slashing official development assistance for the first time in decades. These cuts threaten to undo twenty years of progress that saw child mortality drop by 39% and HIV/AIDS deaths plummet by 70%, placing 75% of the world’s population at risk of losing essential health safeguards.
The humanitarian impact is projected to be most severe in Sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 38 of the most vulnerable countries, though the crisis extends across Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, described the findings as a "warning of the profound moral cost" of retreating from international commitments to the world's most vulnerable people. As global aid is projected to decline by up to 18% through 2025, health experts are calling for urgent, renewed multilateral cooperation to prevent a massive loss of life that would be roughly equivalent to the entire population of Florida perishing by the end of the decade.
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