The decision by US President Donald Trump to freeze foreign aid threatens critical health efforts in Ivory Coast, particularly in combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, humanitarian groups warned on Tuesday.
Gisele Takalea, deputy president of a network of health associations, said the cuts could have disastrous consequences for public health in the West African country. Speaking at a press conference in Abidjan, she described the aid suspension as a grave threat, particularly for the tens of thousands relying on US-backed HIV treatment programmes.
Trump’s executive order, signed on his first day in office, placed a 90-day freeze on all US foreign aid while his administration reviewed international spending. While some exemptions were later made—including for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a key initiative in HIV/AIDS treatment—the disruption severely affected health services.
Takalea highlighted that PEPFAR funding accounts for more than half of the support received by HIV-positive patients in Ivory Coast. The suspension left many health centres struggling with shortages of life-saving antiretroviral drugs, putting thousands of patients at risk.
She also criticised the country’s reliance on international aid, calling on the Ivorian government to increase national health spending.
According to the charity Sidaction, more than 400,000 people in Ivory Coast live with HIV. Other African nations, including South Africa and Lesotho, have also expressed concern over the impact of the US aid freeze.
Until the suspension, the US had been the world’s largest contributor to international humanitarian and development aid.
