The health clinic where Alice Okwirry collects her HIV medication in Nairobi has been forced to ration antiretroviral supplies to just one-month refills since the U.S. government froze foreign aid.
Meanwhile, millions of life-saving doses sit idle in a warehouse on the outskirts of the city, unreachable due to a lack of distribution funding.
Although the warehouse—stocked with all U.S. government-donated HIV medicine for Kenya—is only a short drive away, the impact of the aid freeze has made the essential drugs nearly inaccessible for patients like Okwirry.
According to a former USAID official and a Kenyan health representative, the suspension of U.S. funding has halted all drug distribution from the warehouse, leading to dangerously low supplies in clinics nationwide.
The 90-day foreign aid freeze, enacted by U.S. President Donald Trump upon taking office on January 20, has severely disrupted the global supply chain for essential medical products. While HIV programs were officially exempted from the freeze, the breakdown of USAID’s payment system has effectively blocked the distribution of medicine that has already arrived in Kenya.
Health officials estimate that approximately $10 million is required to resume the delivery of these life-saving drugs and prevent a looming public health crisis. Patients and medical professionals alike remain in distress, uncertain of when the supply chain will be restored.