Health Minister says assessment being done on likely impact of USAID fallout

By Prince Moore    

 

Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton says an assessment is being conducted on the likely impact of the shuttering of USAID on Jamaica's health sector.

 

Dr. Tufton says there could be a deficit of around US$7 million in the health sector for a number of programmes.

 

He says a decision will be made on which programmes can continue with funding from the government. 

 

"There are certain programmes that are not just directly the role of health and the Ministry of Health, but...by NGOs and other affiliated organisations. Those obviously would require a more in-depth review because to the extent that there is fallout in those funds, funding of those entities, that would require a much deeper assessment by the Ministry and a determination as to how those continue, if after the US have completed their review, they have opted not to support those initiatives. But for the ones that are internal, we will have to find a way to continue to fund them," he said.  

  

The minister was speaking Thursday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines.

 

In the meantime, US federal workers associations filed a lawsuit late Thursday asking a federal court to stop the Trump administration's effective dismantling of the lead US aid agency.

 

The lawsuit by the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees comes as the new Trump administration and ally Elon Musk are targeting the US Agency for International Development for eradication, freezing its funds and placing almost all of its workers on leave or furlough.

 

The lawsuit says US President Donald Trump lacks the authority to shut down an agency enshrined in congressional legislation.

 

It asks the federal court in Washington to compel the reopening of USAID's buildings, return its staffers to work and restore funding.

 

The Trump administration presented a plan Thursday to dramatically cut staffing worldwide for US aid projects as part of its dismantling of USAID, leaving fewer than 300 workers out of thousands.