US funding cuts jeopardize Malawi's maternal health advances

The U.S. Congress appears to have protected global maternal health programs from the Trump administration’s efforts to revoke funds lawmakers had already allocated to those services. In the $9 billion rescissions package adopted earlier this month, senators specifically excluded any cuts to maternal and child health.

But in places like Malawi, that came too late.

The Trump administration has already eliminated key programs to support mothers and young children in the midst of dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development. Officials here said they do not understand why some programs were cut, while similar ones were maintained. Other services were embedded within programs to address family planning and reproductive health, which were not protected from the administration’s cuts or its recent clawback.