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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION CONDEMNING THE DEATHLY IMPACT OF USAID CUTS ON GLOBAL HEALTH
WHEREAS, in 1998, Congress established the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a functionally independent executive agency through the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act; and
WHEREAS, under this Act, President Bill Clinton reorganized USAID, which retained its independence from the U.S. Department of State, with its administrator reporting to and being under the direct authority and foreign policy guidance of the Secretary of State; and
WHEREAS, U.S. citizens contribute about 17 cents per day to USAID, around just $64 per year; and
WHEREAS, a study co-authored by a UCLA Fielding School of Public Health found that USAID-supported programs were associated with a 15% reduction in all-cause mortality and a 32% reduction in mortality among children under the age of 5 between 2001 and 2021; and
WHEREAS, in countries receiving high levels of support, mortality from HIV/AIDS was reduced by 74%, malaria by 53%, and other tropical diseases by 51%; and
WHEREAS, the study estimates that more than 91 million deaths were prevented between 2001 and 2021, of which approximately 30 million were children; and
WHEREAS, under President George W. Bush, Congress passed the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act in 2003, creating the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease; and
WHEREAS, PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, enabled by strong bipartisan support across ten U.S. congresses and four presidential administrations; and
WHEREAS, per its authorizing statute, PEPFAR is overseen by a U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator - a Senate-confirmed position appointed by the President and holding the rank of ambassador - at the State Department’s Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy; and
WHEREAS, USAID is PEPFAR’s largest government implementing agency, accounting for roughly 60% of PEPFAR’s bilateral assistance; and
WHEREAS, PEPFAR works closely with partner countries toward achieving HIV/AIDS epidemic control while promoting the long-term sustainability of their responses; and
WHEREAS, since PEPFAR’S inception, the U.S. government has invested over $100 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response, saved 26 million lives, and enabled 7.8 million babies to be born without HIV infection; and
WHEREAS, Studies have also found that PEPFAR funding has been associated with several “spillover” effects including significant reductions in all-cause mortality, increases in childhood immunizations, and increases in GDP growth; and
WHEREAS, PEPFAR has been reauthorized by Congress four times, most recently in March 2024 for just one year; and
WHEREAS, PEPFAR’s authorization was not renewed and expired on March 25, 2025; and
WHEREAS, on March 10, 2025, The Trump administration announced they had officially cancelled 86% of U.S. foreign aid contracts; and
WHEREAS, studies have crucially found that the recent cuts to USAID may lead to more than 14 million additional deaths globally by 2030, including more than 4.5 million children under 5; and
WHEREAS, an analysis found that of the 770 global health awards identified, 379 included HIV activities, 71% of which were terminated, including several HIV treatment awards as well as most HIV prevention; and
WHEREAS, former civil servant at USAID Nicholas Enrich projected that with these cuts, and assuming they are not restored, an additional one million children will die every year; and
WHEREAS, Enrich also projected that up to 17.9 million more people will contract malaria and as many as 166,000 people will die from it constituting a 39% increase from current rates; and
WHEREAS, additional projections suggest that Tuberculosis cases, including multidrug-resistant TB, will soar by 28 to 32 percent; and
WHEREAS, with these cuts, as many as 28,000 people will suffer from emerging infectious diseases, like Ebola and Marburg; and
WHEREAS, hundreds of millions of people will contract polio infections over the next decade, with an additional 200,000 people becoming paralyzed by polio; and
WHEREAS, Enrich also noted that the cuts could lead to "increasing the likelihood of unchecked outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases such as avian influenza, Ebola, and mpox - threats that can spread globally and endanger American citizens; and
WHEREAS, the sudden withdrawal of U.S. money has caused a systemic shock, with U.N. officials warning that, if the funding isn’t replaced, the cuts could lead to more than 4 million AIDS-related deaths and 6 million more HIV infections by 2029; and
WHEREAS, as a result of these cuts to PEPFAR and USAID, as of July 2026, so far 1,700 global sites providing preventative medicine and treatment have been closed; and
WHEREAS, as of this year, 73 percent of groups that provide services to particularly vulnerable groups, sex workers, men who have sex with men, people who use injection drugs, reported that they have stopped providing at least one type of service; and
WHEREAS, recent reports from 22 neonatal clinics in a network of hospitals in Africa where newborns come to, found that mothers had a 50 percent jump in HIV rates and over 300 percent jump in those places finding women were not on treatment; and
WHEREAS, following these cuts, a tracking survey found that PrEP initiations declined by 13 percent and 66 percent in five high-burden countries between January-September 2024 and January-September 2025
WHEREAS, a recent analysis in 14 countries found that the disruption in PEPFAR funding was associated with significant drops in access from early 2025 through early 2026 and that recovery remains limited, with ongoing reduced access to HIV services and commodities, including antiretroviral treatment, PrEP, HIV tests, and clinical monitoring tests; and
WHEREAS, the ramifications of these cuts to PEPFAR and USAID inevitably trickle down into the lives, communities, and medical systems of residents within Cook County; and
WHEREAS, Cook County continues to advocate for health equity, promoting education and awareness, and supporting organizations that work tirelessly to serve those at risk and living with HIV and AIDS;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners does hereby issue its full condemnation of the Trump Administrations’ cuts to USAID and PEPFAR funding, demand the immediate reinstatement of this funding, and mourn the deaths that have and will occur if these cuts are not reversed.
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