Pharmacist Joseph Njer Airo inspects boxes of antiretroviral drugs labeled “USAID,” from the last donation before the funding cuts inside the medical stockroom of Migosi Sub-county Hospital on April 24, 2025 in Kisumu, Kenya. Kisumu has one of the highest HIV rates in Kenya, with around 17.6% of the adult population are living with the virus, nearly five times the national average of 4.5%. In 2025, Kisumu has become a focal point of a growing healthcare crisis, as funding cuts from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ripple through the local health system.
COMMENTARY: USAID was certainly in need of deep reform. Most of the federal government is. But there’s a difference between effecting genuine reform and playing Demolition Derby.
