UK-based charity Save the Children on Wednesday reported that eight people in South Sudan, including five children, died during a three-hour walk to seek medical treatment for cholera.
The charity attributed these deaths to the closure of local health services following cuts in U.S. aid.
These cuts, imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump after he took office in January 2017, were part of his “America First” agenda, aimed at aligning grants with U.S. interests.
Christopher Nyamandi, Save the Children’s country director in South Sudan, called for global moral outrage, stating, “The decisions made by powerful people in other countries have led to child deaths in just a matter of weeks.”
Experts have warned that the cuts, including the cancellation of more than 90 per cent of USAID contracts, could lead to millions of deaths in the coming years due to malnutrition, AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases.
The U.S. State Department stated that they did not have information on the deaths reported by Save the Children.
A spokesperson confirmed that many U.S. government programmes remained active in South Sudan, but criticised the country’s leaders for using aid to enrich themselves, citing corruption concerns.
Humanitarian aid in South Sudan is often routed through non-governmental organisations due to issues of corruption.
Save the Children reported that it had supported 27 health facilities in eastern South Sudan’s Jonglei State before the U.S. aid cuts forced seven to close completely and 20 to shut partially.
U.S.-funded transport services to take patients to the hospital also stopped, forcing the cholera patients to walk in nearly 40°C (104°F) heat.
Three of the children who died were under the age of five, Nyamandi said. Beyond the U.S. cuts, reductions in aid from other donors have strained the country’s humanitarian response.
Save the Children also mentioned a significant drop in its expected spending in South Sudan, forecasting 30 million dollars in 2025, down from 50 million dollars in previous years.
Over a third of South Sudan’s population has been displaced by conflict or natural disasters, and the country faces the risk of renewed civil war, with fighting erupting in February in the northeast.
The World Health Organisation declared a cholera outbreak in October 2024, with more than 22,000 cases recorded as of February, causing hundreds of deaths.