The Brian Lehrer Show The Children Who've Died Waiting for USAID Medications
Oct 6, 2025
Meg Kelly, a senior reporter for The Washington Post's Visual Forensics team, sheds light on the tragic outcomes of the USAID funding pause during the Trump administration. She recounts the heartbreaking stories of Souza and Gilbert, two children who depended on medications that remained undelivered due to bureaucratic delays. Meg discusses the widespread impact on 41 countries, highlighting logistical challenges and the confusion over ownership of supplies. With estimates of numerous preventable deaths, she emphasizes the urgent need for effective aid delivery and policy accountability.
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Waivers, Cuts, And System Failures
- The 90-day USAID pause required individual waivers and disrupted multiple programs despite quick public reassurances.
- Staffing cuts and payment system failures kept deliveries stalled for months and left nearly half of expected aid undelivered by June.
Two Children Who Died Waiting
- Gilbert and Sousa were seven-year-old children in the DRC who relied on USAID-supplied medication for HIV and malaria.
- Both died after needed medicines sat in nearby warehouses and never reached their clinics in time.
Medicine Sitting Just Miles Away
- Sousa's required malaria treatment sat seven miles away in a warehouse with over 200,000 doses but distribution had been paused and later canceled.
- The local delivery pause lasted months and the malaria distribution only restarted in May, well after she fell ill.