Doctors assail US plan to destroy $9.7mil of contraceptives
A State Department spokesman told AFP that "a preliminary decision was made to destroy certain" birth control products from "terminated Biden-era USAID contracts."
The US Agency for International Development (USAID), the country's foreign aid arm, was dismantled by Donald Trump's administration when he returned to office in January.
Press reports indicate that $9.7 million worth of implant and IUD contraceptives stored in Belgium are set to be incinerated in France under the plan.
"Contraceptives are essential and lifesaving health products," said Avril Benoit, CEO of Doctors Without Borders in the United States (MSF USA).
"MSF has seen firsthand the positive health benefits when women and girls can freely make their own health decisions by choosing to prevent or delay pregnancy, and the dangerous consequences when they cannot."
The State Department spokesman said the destruction will cost $167,000 and that "no HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed."
Trump's dismantling of USAID, by dismissing thousands of employees and integrating it into the State Department, has already had serious consequences.
In addition to eliminating a series of programmes providing family planning and abortion services, the Trump administration admitted to destroying tons of expired food that had been intended for malnourished children but was never distributed.
"Destroying valuable medical items that were already paid for by US taxpayers does nothing to combat waste or improve efficiency," Benoit said in a statement.
"This administration is willing to burn birth control and let food supplies rot, risking people's health and lives to push a political agenda."
US lawmakers approved slashing some $9 billion in aid, primarily destined for foreign countries, last Friday.
Doctors Without Borders noted that other organisations had offered to cover the shipping and distribution costs of the supplies, but the US government declined to sign off.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen said that under normal circumstances, "US family planning assistance reaches over 47 million women and couples every year. It prevents 8.1 million unintended pregnancies, 5.2 million unsafe abortions, and 34,000 maternal deaths."
In a BBC interview aired Wednesday, Shaheen called the plan to incinerate the medical supplies, "even though they're not close to their expiration date", contrary to the values of the US.
"But it's also just wasteful," she added.
-AFP
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