This Is Insane

I am going to leave aside any question about whether the World Health Organization is telling the truth because I have no way of knowing. 

There may have been a time when, in ignorance, I would have assumed that they were, but that time is long past. The WHO is run by a man who was a Minister in a government run by literal terrorists, it lied throughout COVID, and is corrupt as the day is long. 

But I will grant for the purposes of this article that they could be telling the truth, and still say WTF, man?

🔴 Three in four countries suffering ‘severe disruption’ to health after aid cuts, WHO warnshttps://t.co/wOrZevLvOh

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) April 10, 2025

Could it possibly be true that 75% of the world’s countries can’t have a functioning health care system without aid from the United States? 

Possibly.

Is it, in any rational world, acceptable that 75% of the countries in the world cannot ensure that they have functioning healthcare systems without US aid?

Absolutely not. That state of affairs is insane, both because it is unfair to the US taxpayers and, just as importantly, it ensures that citizens of foreign countries continue to live under the most incompetent governments conceivable. We are enabling self-destruction in the same way that family members of alcoholics or drug addicts are enabling their relatives by giving them cash to feed their habit. 

Three in four countries are suffering “severe disruption” to healthcare systems after dramatic aid cuts by the United States and other countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

One in four countries also reported increased out-of-pocket payments for healthcare, job losses for healthcare workers, disruptions to information systems, and a faltering supply of medicines and health products.

The WHO has “compiled feedback from more than 100 countries” to understand the impact of the aid cuts, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Thursday.

“The results show severe disruptions to health services in three quarters of countries, and closures of health facilities in one quarter of countries,” he said.

On January 20 2025, Donald Trump, the US President, issued an executive order suspending all foreign aid programmes for 90 days. Some 83 per cent of US foreign aid contracts have since been cancelled, plunging healthcare in the developing world into crisis.

In response, the WHO has begun work to accelerate the transition away from a reliance on foreign aid in favour of domestic fundraising, with the goal of fostering self-sufficiency in the supported countries, Dr Tedros said.

Uh, yeah. If this report is accurate–and again, I have no idea whether it is or not because so much FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) has been spread about the USAID cuts that I believe little of what I am told these days–that is absolutely shameful. 

Worse, given the voting record of countries in the United Nations and what many of these countries say about us, a lot of world leaders use one hand to beg for our cash and the other to hold a knife that they use to stab us in the back. 

It’s one thing for the United States to use foreign aid in order to help address crises and quite another for us to become the primary caregiver for the world. No country should build its health care budget based on an expectation that another would pick up the check. It is, if nothing else, irresponsible, given that services to citizens could be cut by the ascent of a new president. 

Like Trump. 

No doubt many will point to a story like this and blame Trump–see, you are HURTING people. I read it and wonder how any “leader” could let his country down so much. And if it is a moral imperative that Western countries subsidize every other government in the world, why don’t our allies pick up the slack?

They are great about trashing us for not paying the freight but walk away when asked to pick up the tab they so desperately want paid by us. 

It’s NATO all over again. The Western Alliance! Except none of the others in the alliance really wants to contribute much. 

Apparently, Spain counted CO2 reduction spending as defense spending under NATO rules…

No doubt AN INVALUABLE PART OF AMERICA’S GLOBAL SECURITY ARCHITECTURE! pic.twitter.com/N5jPxlu9v6

— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) April 10, 2025

Do I wish it hadn’t come to this? Yes. Would I be willing to talk about helping out during a short transition? Perhaps, depending on the conditions in each country. 

But 75% of all the countries can’t run a health care system without foreign aid from the US? That is insane. 

But go back to the status quo ante? Not on your life. It’s time for the 30-year-olds living in their parent’s basements, eating Cheetos, swilling beers, and playing Call of Duty to get off their asses and work for a living. 

If the World Health Organization isn’t gaslighting us things are worse than I thought.