Experts warn cuts could cause 14m deaths globally
Global Fund Grant Manager in Nigeria, Dr Jean-Thomas Nouboussi, today disclosed that Nigeria’s funding allocation from the Global Fund would be reduced by approximately 11 per cent.

The development, according to Nouboussi, was attributed to the Global Fund’s inability to raise the full amount initially pledged due to global economic challenges and financial constraints.

The announcement was made during the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) Nigeria’s 2025 Annual Retreat and 70th General Meeting, where Nouboussi addressed stakeholders on recent funding developments and the implications for Nigeria’s health sector.

The annual retreat served as an opportunity for CCM to reflect on its achievements, assess operational challenges, and identify areas for improvement across governance, grant performance, and strategic coordination.

However, this year’s gathering took place under the shadow of a global funding crisis, which has forced a reprioritisation of grants and urgent adjustments to financial planning.

Nouboussi noted that the decision was driven by lower-than-expected international contributions to the Global Fund.

MEANWHILE, Trump’s USAID cuts could lead to 14 million deaths, experts have warned.

Researchers warned that around 14 million people could die worldwide over the next five years because of cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Children under five are expected to make up around a third (4.5 million) of the mortalities, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.

Estimates showed that “unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030”.

“Beyond causing millions of avoidable deaths, particularly among the most vulnerable, the cuts risk reversing decades of progress in health and socioeconomic development in LMICs (low and middle-income countries),” the report said.

USAID programmes have prevented the deaths of more than 91 million people, around a third of them among children, the study suggests.

The agency’s work has been linked to a 65 per cent fall in deaths from HIV/AIDS, or 25.5 million people.

Eight million deaths from malaria, more than half the total, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases and nearly five million from tuberculosis (TB) have also been prevented.

USAID has been vital in improving global health, “especially in LMICs, particularly African nations,” according to the report.