Global health aid sinks to 15-year low in 'era of austerity'

KIGALI

Injured Palestinians receive medical treatment at the intensive care unit of the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 11, 2025.

Sweeping foreign aid cuts led by the United States will cause international health funding to plummet to the lowest level in 15 years, a study said Wednesday, warning the world has entered a new "era of global health austerity."

Money that provides healthcare to some of the poorest and most in-need people across the world has been dramatically slashed this year, led by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The new study published in the prestigious Lancet journal also pointed to recent steep aid cuts announced by the U.K., France and Germany.

After reaching an all-time high of $80 billion in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the total amount of global health aid will sink to $39 billion this year, the U.S.-led team of researchers estimated.

That would be the lowest level since 2009.

Such a dramatic change will result in the world entering a new "era of global health austerity," the authors of the study warned.

Sub-Saharan African countries such as Somalia, the war-torn Democratic of Congo and Malawi will be hit worst because most of their health funding currently comes from international aid, according to the study.

The funding cuts will have a major impact on the treatment and prevention of a range of diseases, including HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, it added.

The U.S. slashed its global health funding by at least 67 percent in 2025 compared to last year, according to the research. The U.K. cut its funding by nearly 40 percent, following by France with 33 percent and Germany with 12 percent.

The researchers at the U.S.-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation called for the world to urgently ramp up health aid. They also warned that nations would likely need find other sources of funding.