Photos spread on social media in mid-February 2025, showing $300 million worth of drug therapy in a warehouse, and President Donald Trump is about to expire due to a freeze on foreign aid spending.
Senator Chris Coons, d-del. , Posted Image to x (archive) On February 12, 2025, he said the depicted drugs were depicted. It would have prevented people from becoming blind from preventable tropical diseases. He added, “Trump wants to waste them in their East African warehouses.” His post It also circulated Above thread and Facebook (archive, archive, archive).
Trump announced on January 20, 2025 Presidential Order It imposed a 90-day freeze on the US foreign aid program. The administration also brought x to the United States Organization for International Development (USAID), a US federal agency that provides foreign aid. The Trump administration said it directly hires all USAID employees on vacation and recalls thousands of people working abroad.
However, on January 29th, Secretary of State Marco Rubio Exemption has been issued Of the 90-day suspension, existing humanitarian program implementers can now continue or resume work.
A spokesman for the Coons office said in an email that the drugs shown in the photo are part of a USAID-funded neglected tropical diseases (NTD) program. It’s everywhere Co-Chair Malaria and NTD’s Senate Caucus.
According to a Coons spokesman, an individual affiliated with the NTD program took the photo in February. 6 In a warehouse in Tanzania. A spokesperson said individuals wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
The spokesman also said that most of the boxes seen in the photographs contain the antibiotic Zithromax. Pfizer production And donate to the program and the drug can potentially be wasted. According to a spokesman, “These drugs are at risk of expiration dates. Unless NTDs are added to the exemption, the programs on which these drugs were donated will not restart and there is no way to remove these drugs from the warehouse. ”
A spokesperson did not detail how many doses Zithromax was in the box or how many doses it was in the price per dose.
Snopes contacted Pfizer, the manufacturer of medicine, for comments. If we receive a response, we will update this story.
Federal judge in Washington, DC, February 13th. I ordered a temporary thawing Regarding Trump’s freeze on foreign aid. Arbitration Requested The administration will notify all organizations of temporary stays with the federal government through existing contracts. The government also set a deadline of February 18th to inform the courts of its compliance. But some The confusion remains About how funds will resume.
Previously, we reported a series of decisions that temporarily frozen the distribution of life-saving HIV drugs.
