New Delhi, Feb 3 || Slashing global aid, particularly by the US and European countries, will reverse decades of progress in fighting diseases, and lead to 22.6 million additional deaths in people of all age groups, including children under five years of age, by 2030, warned a new study published in The Lancet Global Health on Tuesday.
The peer-reviewed study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), in Spain, showed that the additional deaths will be across 93 low- and middle- income countries, including India. The figures also include 5.4 million children under the age of five.
Severe cuts to official development assistance (ODA) will affect Sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 38 of the 93 countries analysed, the most.
In Asia, 21 countries, including India, are at risk, followed by 12 countries each in Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa. Ten countries in Europe, including Ukraine, will also be affected.
“Withdrawing this support now would not only reverse hard-won progress but would translate directly into millions of preventable adult and child deaths in the coming years.