The human cost of USAID cuts in Uganda

The sudden collapse of USAID in 2025 sent shockwaves through Uganda’s HIV response and the people hardest hit are those the system was already failing.

When Elon Musk bragged on social media that USAID had been put through the woodchipper,” the consequences for millions of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa were immediate - and potentially irreversible.

That is the warning from researchers and community advocates speaking on the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Between the Lines podcast. With an estimated loss in funding of over US$300 million. While a new US$2.3 billion five-year health cooperation agreement was signed in December 2025, the abrupt reductions have severely impacted health services.

In the new podcast episode released today, Chris Stevenson, International Editor at the Independent, Megan Schmidt-Sane, Research Fellow at IDS, and Kyomya Macklean, Executive Director of the Alliance of Women Advocating for Change (AWAC) in Uganda examine what the Impacts have been on community-based HIV services and vulnerable communities.