Lesotho Negotiates US Health Aid Cuts Threatening 2.4 Million-Person Nation
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · May 22
Lesotho Negotiates US Health Aid Cuts Threatening 2.4 Million-Person Nation
3 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · May 22
Lesotho officials held three hours of talks in Maseru last November with Trump administration counterparts over abruptly canceled US healthcare funding.
The negotiations followed US cuts to billions of dollars in international aid that stripped support from health programs in the southern African country.
For Lesotho’s 2.4 million people, the loss of aid put thousands of lives at risk in a country with the world’s second-highest HIV rate and fourth-highest tuberculosis rate.
The episode illustrates a broader Trump-era aid approach marked by secretive bargaining and aggressive demands after sudden funding withdrawals.
Do aid cuts in one country create a ticking time bomb for global health security?
As US aid vanishes, can nations like Lesotho build stronger health systems on their own?