And let’s get real for a second, the so-called “facts” coming out of the Trump administration are about as trustworthy as a fake news headline. I mean, have you seen the condom-gate scandal – apparently, USAID is providing condoms to Hamas, because, you know, that’s exactly what they need, more condoms.
But wait, it gets better – or worse, depending on how you look at it. The memo, which I’m sure was written in crayon on the back of a napkin, warns that cutting $7.7 billion in aid could lead to some pretty dire consequences, like 12.5–17.9 million cases of malaria and 71,000–166,000 deaths annually – you know, just your average, everyday, no-big-deal numbers.
And let’s not forget about the worst-case scenario, because who doesn’t love a good disaster movie? Apparently, we’re looking at over 28,000 cases of Ebola, Marburg, or related diseases, because, you know, that’s not something to lose sleep over or anything. But, I mean, what’s a few thousand deaths when you’ve got politics to play, right? (get your politics book here)
But, in all seriousness, Enrich is spot on when he says that potentially 17 million pregnant women would lose access to lifesaving services, more than 11 million newborns would go without postnatal care, and about one million children would not receive treatment for severe acute malnutrition – I mean, who needs healthcare anyway, right?
And, can we talk about how Tuberculosis is going to increase by 28 to 32 percent globally – you know, just what we needed, more TB to go around. But hey, at least we’ll have our condoms to keep us company, right? (get your condoms here)
But, I mean, seriously, have you seen the state of politics and healthcare lately? It’s like they’re trying to create a real-life zombie apocalypse – just without the zombies, because, you know, that would be too obvious.
And, can I just say, as an aside, that I’m getting a little tired of all these memos and reports – can’t we just have a simple conversation for once? But, I guess that’s just not how politics works, is it?
But, I digress, because, let’s be real, the bulk of this article is just a bunch of numbers and statistics – I mean, who doesn’t love a good stats dump? But, in all seriousness, these numbers are real people, with real lives, and real problems – not just pawns in some political game.
And, as I’m writing this, I’m just sitting here, thinking about how crazy it is that we’re even having this conversation – I mean, shouldn’t we be talking about, I don’t know, curing diseases and feeding children, rather than cutting aid and spreading misinformation? But, hey, what do I know, I’m just a crazy person on the internet.
But, in all seriousness, we need to take a
And, finally, as I’m wrapping up this article, I just want to say that we need to do better – I mean, we can’t just sit around and watch as people suffer and die because of politics and bureaucracy. But, I guess that’s just the way it is, right? (get your healthcare book here)