Foreign aid saves lives; cutting it would be disastrous

Over a decade ago, I met a newborn who forever changed my life. But I was not able to change hers. I knew immediately that without health interventions, this precious baby would likely die.

There I was. Another white girl. Standing in a remote village outside of Solwezi, Zambia. There to learn but frozen with emotion. There to help but without the tools. I had a bachelor of arts from Millsaps College. I was no doctor. It was my first trip to rural Africa, and I was both hopeless and overwhelmed.

She was snuggled in a brightly colored blanket in the arms of her grandmother, but the tiny thing didn’t have a name yet, and never got one. In her first two weeks of life, she’d already lost her mother due to either complications from labor or HIV/AIDS. It was never made clear to me. Without breast milk or formula to speak of, this newborn was fed porridge of finely ground corn meal and hot water which her small system was not able to digest, causing diarrhea and extreme dehydration. Her father had died months before, so her grandmother became her primary caretaker along with her nine other orphaned siblings and cousins. It was heartbreaking.

Every stop on this tour of community health programs was another dirt hut full of children, but empty of parents. It was the height of the scourge that is AIDS, and too many orphans were left behind in the care of elderly grandparents or far-flung cousins. Entire villages were suddenly both too old and too young to work. The kids I met were malnourished and much more susceptible to falling ill from otherwise treatable or preventable diseases.

When I arrived in Zambia, the rate of child deaths had been steadily increasing for 15 years. But vigilant volunteer community health workers were undeterred. They brought nutritional supplements; treated those who became ill with deadly diarrhea, pneumonia or malaria; and provided basic support and home-based care for the HIV positive.

A decade later, this community-supported action across Zambia has continued and with U.S. support, it has grown.

In Zambia, the combined efforts of local government, civil society and faith-based organizations — along with direct investments from the U.S. government, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria — have put the country on track to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

With millions of people now alive because of anti-retroviral treatment, the orphan crisis is getting more support, and more women than ever before are having safe deliveries in health facilities. In the face of fighting the AIDS pandemic, Zambia has also more than halved its mortality rate for children under the age of 5, in just the past 12 years.

A lot of Mississippians may look at foreign assistance as a waste of our tax dollars. That could not be more untrue. U.S. support for PEPFAR and the Global Fund — both programs started under President George W. Bush — have turned the tide against AIDS. The areas of Africa with the highest HIV burden have seen a 40 percent decline in deaths since 2010. Globally, over 17 million people are now on life-saving treatment.

Additionally, since 1990, U.S. investments have helped to slash the global “under-5” mortality rate by more than half — which means more than 100 million children are alive today who otherwise would not be. In 2015 alone, 18 million children under 5 improved their nutritional intake thanks to U.S.-supported programs. The evidence shows that quality nutrition in the early years can improve health outcomes, increase a child’s ability to achieve higher levels of education, and has compounding effects on their lifetime earnings.

If saving lives and creating opportunity isn’t a good investment, I don’t know what is.

When I returned to the U.S., I remembered that tiny newborn and used my anger and sadness at the injustices in the world to become unstuck. I realized that my privilege meant inaction was not an option. I was moved to use the tool I had — my voice — to become an advocate. I now work to see that all children, no matter where they happen to be born, have the same opportunity to survive and thrive.

The thing is, I’m still learning the tools I need to make a difference. I’m never going to save lives like a doctor, but I’m no longer hopeless and overwhelmed. You, too, can use your voice to make a difference.

Reach out to our U.S. senators, Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, and thank them for maintaining funding for foreign aid and global health this year. Tell them that they should continue to lead with action, that they should continue to work with their colleagues to reject the shameful cuts that the Trump Administration has proposed making to these global anti-poverty programs. Don’t be frozen with inaction. Do something.

Crickett Nicovich is senior adviser, Global Policy and Government Affairs, for RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund.