Funding Freeze Halts Life-Saving Malaria Prevention

I work on a USAID-funded malaria project with a contractor. Almost all of our staff in the US were furloughed, and our HR and legal teams looked into each country's requirements for furlough as per their local labor laws. 

We had three countries preparing for imminent indoor residual spraying campaigns. Each of which was just about to begin. Each campaign employs over 1,000 local seasonal workers who are now out of work as well. Vendors we had contracts with to carry out transportation and provision of water and supplies are not going to have our business. Tens of thousands of homes will not be sprayed, which means increased malaria cases, especially for pregnant women and children under the age of five. 

I have a portfolio of six countries. One has a campaign scheduled for August. If we cannot plan now, that campaign will not happen. We were not allowed to keep insecticides going in most countries, so years of research will be severely impacted. We have to start insecticide procurements, so even if we do start again, this will negatively impact campaigns for the next year at least. In an attempt to root out "irresponsible spending", the government has wasted large amounts of money…

We are all angry, scared, and confused. We were given a waiver for two indoor residual spraying campaigns to continue, but without a word on what that means, who will be working, and the allowed scope, we are left with more questions than answers. So many lives depend on our program, both within the US and abroad. I am left with fear, both for what this means for my continued work in the global health arena, which I am extremely passionate about, as well as what it means for all my colleagues.

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