Nature: U.S. foreign aid saves money as well as lives
Editorial Board

“With severe cuts proposed for U.S. agencies that handle environmental and health research, it might seem that scientists can’t prioritize the possible dismantling of U.S. foreign aid programs. But they should. President Trump’s proposed … budget cut to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which manages foreign assistance, would wreck a burgeoning and successful example of evidence-based policy-making. U.S. foreign aid has transformed significantly, so that it now involves fewer handouts and savvier science. … As political positions harden, it’s worth pointing out that science at USAID is the applied variety that conservatives tend to favor. And that transparent analysis of methods and results allows inefficient programs to be killed or adapted over time. Budget cuts that threaten this key part of aid will guarantee that wasteful programs continue for too long…” (4/13).

Los Angeles Times: Letters to the editor: Trump’s cuts to global health organizations is a counterproductive way to save money
Howard C. Mandel, a Los Angeles County health commissioner and chair of Jhpiego’s international advisory board

“…Fiscal conservatives in Congress should stop the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to global health organizations. As an obstetrician and advocate for women and children worldwide, I call on Congress to help increase maternal health care worldwide. It is not only the moral and compassionate thing to do, it is also fiscally responsible and strategically necessary” (4/12).

Jane Roberts, co-founder of 34 Million Friends of UNFPA

“…The administration’s refusal to contribute to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is particularly galling because back in 2002, Donald Trump and I were on the same honorary committee for the Friends of UNFPA’s ‘Family of Woman’ exhibit in the lobby of the United Nations. Trump obviously supported UNFPA then. What changed? He caved in to the virulent anti-U.N., anti-family planning faction of the Republican Party” (Roberts, 4/12).