Global Aid Policy
Cutting Aid Doesn't Save Money. It Kills.
Life-saving aid costs about $5,000 per person, but 2025's funding cuts could already be responsible for over a million deaths.
Cost to save a life via top-rated charities
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Estimated so far this year.
The evidence
Aid Is Absurdly Cheap to Do Right
GiveWell's top-rated charities save a life for an estimated $3,000 to $5,500 on average, through interventions like insecticide-treated bednets and seasonal malaria prevention (GiveWell, 2024).
One Program, 25 Million Lives
Since 2003, PEPFAR has spent over $100 billion and saved an estimated 25 million lives from HIV/AIDS, transforming a near-certain death sentence into a manageable condition (U.S. Department of State, 2024).
Vaccines Prevented 20 Million Deaths
Since 2000, Gavi has helped immunize more than 1.2 billion children and prevented an estimated 20.6 million deaths. Every $1 invested returns roughly $21 in economic benefit (Gavi, 2025).
The Cuts Are Already Killing People
The Center for Global Development estimates the 2025 USAID funding cuts could cause between roughly 500,000 and 1.6 million deaths (CGD, 2025). Independent trackers had already recorded over 762,000 deaths within the first year of the cuts.
A Rounding Error, Not a Burden
The U.S. spends approximately 1% of its federal budget on foreign aid, yet the average American believes it is roughly 25% (KFF, 2025). Eighty-nine percent of Americans say the U.S. should spend at least 1% of the budget on aid.
Global Aid Is Shrinking, Not Growing
Total official development assistance from OECD donor countries fell to approximately $214.6 billion in 2024, a 6% real-terms drop, equal to just 0.34% of donor countries' combined national income (OECD, 2025).
What we can do
Phase 1: reverse the 2025 cuts and restore PEPFAR, USAID global health, and Gavi funding to prior levels immediately. Phase 2: redirect aid dollars toward the most cost-effective interventions, GiveWell-vetted bednets, vitamin A, vaccines, and direct cash transfers. Phase 3: hold all donor nations to the 0.7% of GNI target, treating aid as insurance against pandemics and instability rather than charity that can be cut without consequence.
Sources: GiveWell, Center for Global Development, OECD Development Assistance Committee, PEPFAR / U.S. Department of State, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, KFF, GiveDirectly
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