Latest news with #contraceptives
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
European stockpile of USAID-funded contraceptives faces destruction
Millions of dollars' worth of US-funded contraceptives which have been sitting in storage for months in a Belgian warehouse face destruction amid a controversy over whether they can be spared for distribution to the needy. The stash is reported to include more than 50,000 intrauterine devices, nearly two million doses of injectable contraceptives, and more than two million packets of oral birth control, and is being kept in the small city of Geel near Antwerp. The contraceptive products were originally intended for distribution to lower-income countries by the now dismantled United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Following the dissolution of USAID - whose aim was to improve health, reduce poverty, and promote human rights and democracy in low-income nations - many international projects and partnerships have been abandoned. The US government's current plan for the contraceptives left in limbo in Geel is to incinerate them—despite their expiration date being between 2027 and 2031. This isn't the first time the American government has opted for such a drastic solution. After budget cuts, food rations capable of feeding 3.5 million people for a month were reportedly left to rot in warehouses around the world, as documented by Reuters. The decision to destroy the contraceptive supplies has drawn sharp criticism from civil society groups. 'It's the height of hypocrisy for a government to preach efficiency and cutting waste, only to turn around and recklessly destroy life-saving supplies when the need has never been greater. This isn't just inefficient — it's unconscionable,' said Micah Grzywnowicz, regional director of International Planned Parenthood Federation's European network. IPPF publicly offered to collect the supplies from Geel, repackage them in its warehouse in the Netherlands, and distribute them to women in need across the globe, 'all at no cost to the US government', according to Grzywnowicz. Several other organisations, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the global charity MSI Reproductive Choices, have also expressed willingness to purchase or redistribute the stockpiles. All offers have reportedly been rejected by the Trump administration. The Belgian government also confirmed to Euronews it is in contact with the US embassy in Brussels. 'The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is exploring all possible avenues to prevent the destruction of these stocks, including their temporary relocation,' a spokesperson told Euronews. As the supplies are reportedly set to be removed to France for destruction, politicians from the French Green Party, Les Écologistes, have appealed to President Emmanuel Macron to intervene. 'We cannot allow Donald Trump's anti-choice agenda to unfold on our territory. And so today, France must mediate with the Commission,' MEP Mélissa Camara (France/The Greens), one of the signatories of the letter, told Euronews. She added that the destruction of these contraceptives would endanger women around the world, especially in Africa, the original destination of the supplies. Camara has also addressed a separate letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other members of the Commission, including Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, whose portfolio includes sexual and reproductive health and rights. A spokesperson told Euronews that the European Commission had 'taken note of the letters and acknowledge the concerns raised'. They added that the EU remains strongly committed to promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including family planning, and that investment in SRHR is a key contributor to social and economic development. 'We continue to monitor the situation closely to explore the most effective solutions,' the spokesperson said.
The Independent
a day ago
- Health
- The Independent
The Trump administration has just sent $10m worth of birth control to be burnt – rather than donate it as aid
A stock of $9.7m (£7.2m) worth of contraceptives, purchased by the US for use in low-income countries is now in transit to France to be burnt rather than distributed as aid. Governments and family planning providers in France and Belgium – where the items were held in a warehouse – have been scrambling to block the US from destroying the supplies. The products, which include contraceptive pills, implants and IUDs (intrauterine devices or coils) and have already been paid for by US taxpayers, are being sent to a specialist facility to be incinerated, at an additional cost of $167,000 (£124,000). That's despite offers from charities including MSI Reproductive Choices and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to take on the costs of donating the contraception. The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also said it was, 'exploring all possible avenues to prevent the destruction of these stocks, including their temporary relocation.' A ministry spokesperson said the department had acted as soon as the plans to destroy stocks of contraception, held in Geel in the north of the country, came to its attention - including sending formal diplomatic representations to the US embassy. French member of parliament Soumya Bourouaha asked in an official question on Monday for the prime minister to, 'do everything possible to save these contraceptive stocks and deliver them to the populations who need them'. However, the negotiations faltered, The Independent understands. The supplies are understood to now be in the process of being transferred between the two countries. Access to contraception can be life-saving: unintended pregnancies in countries with high maternal mortality and no access to safe abortion can be a death sentence. Research by the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research group, has found roughly the $600m spent on family planning overseas by the US government in 2024 prevented 34,000 maternal deaths and over five million unsafe abortions. The contraception was purchased under a contract managed by development firm Chemonics, which has been partly cancelled as part of the Donald Trump 's deep cuts to foreign aid. Chemonics said it was unable to comment on the programme. Two family planning charities said they had been told by representatives of the project that the destruction of contraceptives was part of an effort to save money, despite the fact the supplies have already been paid for. Marcel Van Valen, IPPF's head of supply chain said the argument that the destruction of these products would come in at a lower cost was, 'utter nonsense' adding that the charity had offered to ' go and collect the products, to repack them [at] our cost and to do the distribution throughout the globe with our partners and even competitors in this space'. MSI's associate advocacy director Sarah Shaw said, 'This isn't about government efficiencies. This is about exporting an ideology that's harmful to women.' To give one example, she said, 'the annual contraceptive bill for Senegal for the entire country is $3 million dollars a year. So the contents of that warehouse could have met all of Senegal's contraceptive needs for three years. And instead we're going to see massive shortages. 'We're going to see Senegalese women dying of unsafe abortion, girls having to drop out of school'. A bill has been introduced by Democratic senators Jeanne Shaheen and Brian Schatz to prevent the destruction of the $9.7 of contraceptives specifically, as well as other medicines and food. It's not expected to pass however, as it would need Republican support. IPPF had previously raised concerns that an additional $2 million worth of condoms housed in a warehouse in Dubai were also in line to be destroyed. These were purchased under the HIV programme the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar). A State Department spokesperson described the birth control currently earmarked for destruction as 'abortifacient', and said it did not include condoms. They added that the Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule - first introduced in 1984 and brought back in by every Republican president since - prohibits providing assistance to foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortion. It's not clear what the administration means by birth control that is abortifacient (an agent that causes abortions). A Democratic congressional aide whose team has visited the warehouse told The Independent their team who had visited the Belgian warehouse had seen only contraceptives, not abortion pills. The stocks they had seen were not approaching their expiry date. 'Contraceptives are saving tons of women from things like pregnancy after sexual assault or rape and saving abortions too,' the aide said. 'It's just not true that mifepristone or any of these abortion pills are in these warehouses. That's completely false.' In the past, conservative and religious groups in the US have falsely claimed contraceptives count as abortion agents. Dr Janet Barter, president of UK clinical membership body the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, explained an abortion was defined by when, 'there is a pregnancy and the abortion tablets or medications cause that pregnancy to be lost.' On the other hand, 'when contraception is used properly, there is no pregnancy. 'It's very straightforward with pills, implants, injections. They all work by stopping you from producing an egg. If there is no egg, there is no pregnancy,' she said, while in the case of the copper coil, it largely works by killing sperm before an egg could be fertilised. While family planning has come into the firing line, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) pointed out this was the latest in a series of destructions including 500 tons of emergency food aid and almost 800,000 mpox vaccines which had been allowed to expire while active outbreaks rage. 'The US government manufactured this problem,' said Avril Benoît, CEO of MSF USA. 'Destroying valuable medical items that were already paid for by US taxpayers does nothing to combat waste or improve efficiency. This administration is willing to burn birth control and let food supplies rot, risking people's health and lives to push a political agenda.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
"Pure Evil" — Everyone Is Losing It Over The Trump Admin Planning To Burn Nearly $10 Million In Contraceptives Intended For Poor Nations
If you recall, back in January, Trump and his (former) DOGE head, billionaire Elon Musk, halted funding for all federal foreign aid in their attempts to purge the government of "waste and fraud." Related: The cuts quickly affected over 177 recipient countries, cutting off critical supplies of food and medicine, and shutting down treatment centers to tackle HIV and the prevention of other diseases. Amid the cuts, the Trump administration also ordered the burning of about 500 metric tons of food meant to feed families and children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which sparked outrage online. Now, in their continued shift away from providing foreign assistance, the Trump administration is set to incinerate $9.7 million worth of contraceptives intended for poor nations, despite offers from the United Nations and a nonprofit organization to purchase or cover the cost of repackaging and shipping the supplies, according to a Reuters report. Per the report, the US government will spend $167,000 to incinerate the supplies, which include contraceptive implants, pills, and intrauterine devices that are due to expire between April 2027 and September 2031. The US State Department said no condoms or HIV medications would be destroyed. The supplies, currently stored in a Belgian warehouse since the January aid freeze, are being shipped to France for incineration. In a statement with Reuters, the Belgian foreign ministry said they "explored all possible options to prevent the destruction, including temporary relocation" with US authorities. "Despite these efforts, and with full respect for our partners, no viable alternative could be secured. Nevertheless, Belgium continues to actively seek solutions to avoid this regrettable outcome," they said. According to NPR, the $9.7 million in contraceptives could have provided pregnancy prevention for over 650,000 people for up to one year, and as many as 950,000 people for three to ten years, depending on the contraceptive method. Axios reported that a US State Department spokesperson cited several policies that prohibit the government from providing abortion-related assistance to foreign organizations as the reason for refusing to donate the contraceptive supplies. Reuters, citing a source, reported that the decision was made in accordance with the Mexico City policy, an anti-abortion measure Trump reinstated in January that bars the US from funding or working with organizations that offer or support access to abortion. Related: The decision has drawn widespread backlash. Two Democratic senators, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Sen. Brian Schatz, have introduced legislation, the "Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act," to try to prevent foreign assistance commodities like food and medical devices, including the $10 million in contraceptives, from being destroyed or wasted. "This isn't just wasteful, it's cruel," Sen. Shaheen wrote on X. Twitter: @SenatorShaheen California Rep. Judy Chu said she was "horrified" and called the decision "cruel, disgraceful, and a needless waste of your taxpayer dollars." Related: Beth Davidson, a county legislator in New York, called the story "bizarre" and warned that without access to contraceptive care, more women and girls will be forced to turn to unsafe abortions, increasing the risk of maternal death. She wrote, "Women and girls abroad with unintended pregnancies will seek unsafe abortions. Women and girls will die. Trump would rather waste taxpayer dollars than prevent maternal deaths. Just more of the hypocrisy and misogyny that will forever define the Trump administration and everyone who stands by him. Shameful." The public is not too pleased either. "It would actually cost less to deliver them than to burn them, so this is just pure spite," one person said on Reddit. "Hell, offer to sell them for about the cost of burning them, at least someone would benefit." "I thought you were cutting waste not creating it," another wrote. Related: "Pure evil," this person said. "Just like they did with food for starving children that had already been bought. Torch it rather than providing it to the starving children. Both are wasteful, stupid and cruel," another said. And lastly, this person summed up much of the sentiment felt across social media: "The cruelty is the goal." What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments. Also in In the News: Also in In the News: Also in In the News:
CBC
2 days ago
- Health
- CBC
N.L. has not joined federal program that would make diabetes medication and contraceptives free
Newfoundland and Labrador has not joined a federal program that could provide the province millions of dollars to make diabetes medication and contraceptives free for all residents. The universal Pharmacare Act was passed by the Trudeau Liberals last year, and received royal assent on Oct. 10, 2024. But only British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon have joined the program. Pharmacare advocate and member of the Avalon chapter of the Council of Canadians, Yvonne Earle, said joining the plan would mean every resident of the province would just need their MCP to access diabetes medication and birth control. "If everybody can receive their medications and keep themselves healthy, we'll be making a significant step forward for our health-care program," said Earle. A recent report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives estimated that the province would receive over $84 million in funding if it signed on. Still no word Last May, Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell said she looked forward to conversations with Ottawa about pharmacare, adding that Newfoundland and Labrador won't be left behind. And when St. John's East MP Joanne Thompson joined cabinet under Justin Trudeau, she said she wanted to protect pharmacare. The Council of Canadians sent letters to the government this year lobbying for a pharmacare agreement to be signed in Newfoundland and Labrador, said Earle. But they've only been told that discussions were on hold until after the federal election, she said. "Well, it's now been four months since the federal election and we're still not hearing anything," said Earle. Just last week, Earle said they sent a letter asking the provincial opposition to raise the question to the Liberal government as the provincial election nears. In an emailed statement, Department of Health media relations manager Jennifer Konieczny said they have engaged with the federal government regarding pharmacare coverage, and said that discussions were on hold due to the federal election. "We look forward to once again working with our Health Canada counterparts to improve access for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians when they are ready to resume discussion," wrote Konieczny. The Canadian Press reported on July 24 that Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel is not committing to sign pharmacare funding deals with all the provinces and territories. Earle said the government is procrastinating. "If we want it for Newfoundlanders, then our government has to go after it proactively," she said. She said she is very concerned about the federal government's non-commitment, adding that Prime Minister Mark Carney had previously committed to protect pharmacare during his election campaign. "One of the things that Canadians pride themselves on is their health-care system … [and] our health-care system now is under considerable strain," said Earle. "And one of the ways we can improve it is getting pharmacare for all Canadians." Diabetes medication access varied in N.L. Diabetes Canada has been advocating for a pharmacare plan that involves the provinces and territories working together, said Laura O'Driscoll, the organization's senior manager of policy. That would mean improving support for the 93,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who have Type 1, Type 2 diagnosed and Type 2 undiagnosed diabetes — or 18 per cent of the population, O'Driscoll said. Many different types of medications and devices are used to treat and monitor diabetes, but O'Driscoll said access in the province is varied. It depends on access to private insurance or if you're covered under the province's prescription drug program for low income individuals, she said. And people with diabetes can pay anywhere from $400 to $10,000 a year on medications. O'Driscoll said they have heard from patients who have not been able to afford their prescriptions. For now, she said, they're continuing talks with the government. "We urge … the federal government and provincial and territorial partners to continue to have conversations about reducing the out of pocket costs for people living with diabetes," said O'Driscoll.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
US plan to destroy contraceptives sparks uproar
The US administration's decision to destroy nearly $10 million worth of women's contraception products has sparked furious condemnation from doctors and aid groups, who have slammed the move as a wasteful attack on women's rights. The contraceptives are being stored in Belgium and are reportedly planned to be incinerated in France. Both European countries are under pressure to prevent the destruction. - What has the US announced? - On July 18, British newspaper the Guardian cited two US Congress sources as saying that President Donald Trump's administration planned to destroy $9.7 million worth of contraceptives, which are mostly long-acting such as IUDs and birth control implants. The contraceptives -- intended for some of the world's poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa -- are stored in a warehouse in the Belgian city of Geel. They are to be incinerated at the end of July, according to the Guardian report. A US State Department spokesperson told AFP this week that "a preliminary decision was made to destroy certain" birth control products from "terminated Biden-era USAID contracts". Trump's administration dismantled USAID, the country's foreign aid arm, after returning to the White House in January, replacing President Joe Biden. The State Department spokesperson said the destruction will cost $167,000 and "no HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed." - Why? - The spokesperson pointed AFP to a policy that prohibits providing aid to non-governmental organisations that perform or promote abortions. The Mexico City Policy, which critics call the "global gag rule", was first introduced by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, and has been reinstated under every Republican president since. The Trump administration has also slashed foreign aid, with the Senate this month approving a package that cut around $8 billion in international funding, much of it intended for USAID. Research has estimated that the USAID cuts will lead to the deaths of 14 million people by 2030. Earlier this month, the US also incinerated nearly 500 metric tons of high-nutrition biscuits which were meant to keep malnourished children in Afghanistan and Pakistan alive. Trump has also repeatedly moved to restrict abortion access in the United States, taking credit for the Supreme Court overturning the nationwide right to abortion in 2022. The US State Department also suggested to the Guardian that the contraceptives were nearing the end of their shelf life. However media reports have since said that the products expire between April 2027 and September 2031. - What are the alternatives? - Belgium's foreign ministry told AFP that it has "initiated diplomatic efforts with the United States embassy in Brussels" about the contraceptives. The government "is exploring all possible avenues to prevent the destruction of these products, including temporary relocation solutions," it added. The international organisation MSI Reproductive Choices said it had offered to "purchase, repackage, and manage logistics at our expense, ensuring the products reach those in need". However this offer was repeatedly rejected, it said in a statement. The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) made a similar offer at "no cost to the US government" that was also turned down. - What are people saying? - New Hampshire's Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen pointed to the Trump administration's stated goal of reducing government waste, saying the contraceptives plan "is the epitome of waste, fraud and abuse". Shaheen and Democratic Senator Brian Schatz have introduced a bill aiming to prevent further US aid being wasted. The IPPF said the contraceptives plan is "an intentional act of reproductive coercion". Doctors Without Borders called it a "callous waste". MSI advocacy director Sarah Shaw said it was "an ideological assault on reproductive rights, and one that is already harming women". The head of the French Family Planning group, Sarah Durocher, observed that last year France became the first country to enshrine the right to abortion in its constitution. "France has a moral responsibility to act," she said. French Green leader Marine Tondelier signed an open letter calling on President Emmanuel Macron to stop the contraceptives from being destroyed. "Our country cannot be complicit, even indirectly, in retrograde policies," the letter read. Contacted by AFP, the office of the French presidency declined to comment. bur-mep-dl/tw
