Baby In Cameroon Dies Of Malaria, Trump's Aid Budget Cut

PHOTO ILUSTRATION/LET UNICEF/KC Nwakalor

JAKARTA - A nine-month-old baby, Mohamat, had a fever three days before his family took him to a nearby health center in northern Cameroon. But the move was too late. Mohamat died of malaria that day too.

Mohamat's death was part of a spike in malaria deaths this year which local health officials attributed to cuts in foreign aid by the United States.

Prior to the cuts in the budget, Mohamat may have been diagnosed earlier by one of the more than 2,000 US-funded public health workers who will travel through rough land roads to reach remote villages in the region.

At a health center, he may have been treated with injection artesunat, a life-saving drug for severe malaria financed by US funds that is currently scarce. However, the health center has nothing to give.

Reuters visited northern Cameroon where the US played a major role in dealing with malaria for nearly a decade to document how cuts in funds suddenly contributed to delays in malaria diagnosis, inadequate treatment, and the increasing number of deaths.

This news is based on interviews with more than 20 doctors, nurses, public health workers, residents, and former US officials involved in the malaria program.

Mohamat's father, Alhadji Madou Goni, a sorghum farmer and banana, is grieving the loss of his son whom he hopes will one day be free from poverty.

"I am very sad for my loss. I hope no one will suffer from this malaria again," Goni, 30, told Reuters while sitting outside his house, accompanied by his wife holding a prayer beads.

"Because there are difficulties here, and people do not have facilities, we hope for help to come," he said.

After taking office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump suspended all foreign aid, including the Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI), which was launched in 2005 by George W. Bush.

PMI is believed to have helped save 11.7 million lives and prevented 2.1 billion malaria cases.

The limited appeal issued in February allowed life-saving efforts to contain malaria to continue, but 30 PMI partner countries - mostly in Africa - have reported major disruptions related to the dissolution of the US International Development Agency, the main implementer of PMI-funded programs.

In far North Cameroon, where Goni lives, the cut in funds eliminates support for PMI-funded public health workers who distribute preventive devices such as protective equipment and identify serious cases.

PMI funded half of the 2,824 people's health workers in the region, said Dr. Jean-Pierre Kidwang, coordinator of the regional technical group for malaria control.

The support includes monthly allowances of 15,000 CFA francs ($26), transportation, bicycles, and clothing allowances.

Almost all US-funded public health workers are now no longer working.

Prosper Laurent Messe Fouda, head of planning, monitoring, and evaluation at the National Malaria Control Program, confirmed 2,105 of the 2,354 US-funded health workers in North Far and North Cameroon are no longer working.