USAID funding cut impact on deaths debated

Elon Musk claims the end of USAID has cost zero lives, while Bill Gates accused him of killing the world's poorest children.

A Lancet study estimates 14 million deaths by 2030 due to USAID's closure, but this assumes all funding was eliminated.

USAID once provided $60bn annually, a quarter of global foreign aid, funding HIV drugs, disaster relief, and clinics.

In Malawi, ambulance services were cut, leading to deaths like Prudence, a 25-year-old who died in labor; in Somalia, a quarter of UNICEF clinics closed.

Permanent cuts will cost more lives, but the actual death toll is between zero and 14 million.