As US ends support, Liberia faces empty health clinics and unplanned pregnancies

Sarworlor, Liberia – Five months ago, Roseline Phay, a 32-year-old farmer from the West African Nation of Liberia, embarked on a quest to find contraceptives.

Phay and his partner have two daughters, and they barely join both ends. Determined not to have more children, she went to a health agency in her village, but contraception pills, implants and condoms had exhausted. Phay has traveled hours on red clay roads to the nearest clinic, but they did not have contraceptives either.

She did not know, but her mission was condemned from the start. A few weeks earlier, US President Donald Trump suddenly suspended most of the foreign aid through the US Agency for International Development, which paid medication in Liberia’s public clinics.

Tenacious and frank, Phay repeated the trip four times. Then she got pregnant.

“I suffer,” she said, daughter Pauline crying in her arms. “I have this little child on my back, and the other child in my stomach suffers.” She must continue to cultivate throughout her pregnancy, she said, or “I will not eat”.

After being pregnant, she had to wean Pauline from breastfeeding, she said, and the daughter became so unfortunate that she has almost died. The American cuts have left no therapeutic food to give it, and it is still sick.

Phay is one of the millions across Africa that saw their lives upset after the American aid cuts. In Liberia, American support represented almost 2.6% of gross national income, the highest percentage in the world, according to the Center for Global Development.

“The impact of USAID in Liberia cannot be overestimated,” said Richlue O. Burphy, who worked for USAID projects for more than a decade and manages the national lottery, a government organization. “Wherever you go, you see USAID (signs). And almost all government institutions … had a kind of USAID partnership.”

The feeling of betrayal is deeply deep in Liberia, established in the early 1800s with the aim of moving liberated slaves and blacks born in the United States. The political system is modeled on that of the United States, as well as its flag. Liberians often call the United States as their “big brother”.

Liberia was one of the first countries to receive support from USAID from 1961. His officials thought they were spared from Trump cups due to the close relationships of the countries.

After the civil wars and an Ebola epidemic, Liberia’s survival depends largely on foreign aid, mainly in the United States and the World Bank. Despite an abundant natural wealth, six in 10 Liberians live in poverty, according to the World Bank, and Liberia is one of the 10 poorest nations in the world.

The aid cuts pose “a serious challenge”, in particular for the health system, told the Associated Press, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Finance, head of the drafting of the development budget. To ensure that the system remains afraid, he said: “We must take a dramatic change to see where we are going to cut funding for other areas.”

Liberia received an average of $ 527.6 million in aid per year between 2014 and 2023, according to the Ministry of Finance. This year, Liberia was supposed to receive $ 443 million, but the estimated total impact of the cups is $ 290 million – essentially which had not yet been disbursed.

The financing of the USAID built schools and health clinics, provided training to teachers and doctors and offered scholarships in the United States, he supported small farmers and paid for school meals.

But most of the US funding went to the Liberia health system, representing 48% of its budget. He financed control of malaria, maternal health programs, HIV / AIDS treatment programs and community health. He financed hundreds of health projects managed by aid groups.

Now in Bong County, where Phay lives, medical shelves in health clinics are almost empty. The ambulance funded by USAID cannot work because there is no money for fuel. Hospitals lack disinfectant and gloves. The training of medical personnel has stopped and community health workers have not been paid for months.

Moses K. Banyan, head of the neighboring CB Dunbar Hospital, described the American cuts as “beyond a shock”. He was worried about the future, especially now that Bong county began to see a handful of MPOX cases distributed from the neighboring Sierra Leone.

The cuts warning could have helped to find options, he said. “But it’s like you slept, you woke up and we told you:” Hey, leave this house “.

The withdrawal of American support is an opportunity for others, in particular China, said experts and officials. Chinese companies use Liberia gold mines, the construction of roads and training workers. Chinese beer is sold alongside local brands. Many Liberians who have sent children to universities to the United States now choose China.

Last month, China opened a cardiology wing in the capital’s main hospital, which bears the name of John F. Kennedy but was commonly called “just for murder” because of its rare resources, even before the American cuts.

“There are gaps to fill, and this cannot be covered by the government of Liberia,” said Zuo, deputy finance minister. “We are an open door to the rest of the world, including the United States.”

In the village of Phay de Sarworlor, community health worker Alice Togbah is still wearing her USAID vest although she has not been paid for months. She no longer has malaria drugs for children. It lacks cough medication and diarrhea treatment.

A promised 4 -year -old resident obtained malaria a few days ago. His mother, Grace Morris, only obtained a limited number of malaria tablets at the closest clinic due to American cuts. Now they have finished and the child always feels sick.

“Children die from malaria here,” she said. Last year, his neighbor’s son died because he did not receive drugs on time.

Morris and other women are also looking for contraceptives. In recent years, Liberia has made progress to reduce rates of pregnancy in adolescents and maternal mortality rates.

For women in traditional and conservative communities, access to contraceptives meant recovering some control over their lives.

“If … my man touches me, I can’t say no because I need to satisfy him,” said Phay. “But if I don’t have medication, I get pregnant.”

Her 9 -year -old daughter, also named promised, lives in the capital, Monrovia, with her aunt. Phay wants her to end up at school and have a different life from hers.

“I beg, if you have the drugs, you need to help us,” she said. “I don’t want her to suffer like me.”

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