Trump's team says 'no children' died from USAID cuts. Consider these 3 cases
This report investigates claims made by US officials regarding the impact of USAID funding cuts in Nigeria. It presents a specific case of a child's death to challenge assertions that the policy changes had no negative health consequences.
Why it matters
The article serves as a fact-check on political rhetoric concerning foreign aid and its direct impact on vulnerable populations.
Abdullahi Ibrahim developed asthma when he was 5. Over time, it became increasingly serious.
"Sometimes he would wake up suddenly, gasping for air," recounts his father, Ibrahim Musa, through an interpreter. "I feel very, very scared. We usually rush him to the hospital."
They would take the motorcycle Musa uses as a taxi driver, Abdullahi sandwiched between his parents.
Those visits, plus the drugs and inhalers, were usually free, says Esther Agbo, a nurse at Mucciya Primary Health Care who often interacted with the family living in the north of Nigeria, in Sabon Gari. She says that the costs had been offset by USAID — the United States Agency for International Development.
"Because of that support," says Musa, "people like us who don't have much could still get treatment."
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