Kenya’s health system is reeling from the Trump administration’s abrupt halt of U.S. foreign aid — a move that has left health facilities underfunded, health workers unemployed, data management systems vulnerable, and placed vital programs, from HIV treatment to malaria prevention, in jeopardy, according to an internal government briefing.
The briefing from Kenya’s Ministry of Health, circulated to President William Ruto and his cabinet on March 10, warned the halt in programming was triggering a “domino effect that imperils every link in the healthcare chain.”
The United States has supported Kenya’s health systems for decades with funding and technical expertise through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
