While millions of women in Africa face critical shortages of reproductive healthcare, nearly $10 million worth of U.S.-purchased contraceptives for the continent are rotting in two Belgian warehouses, according to a newly obtained memo written for a Trump administration official.
The internal USAID memo, dated September 15, 2025, acquired by The New York Times, notes that after freezing foreign aid last year, the administration allowed over $8 million of this vital cargo which includes a stockpile of IUDs, contraceptive implants and pills, to become unusable, turning a potential humanitarian aid success story into not only a scandalous pile of wasted taxpayer money, but more importantly, one that increases unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and higher maternal/child mortality rates, exacerbating economic hardship on already-fragile health systems.
The move affects approximately 1.4 million women and girls from five sub-Saharan nations: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mali, Tanzania and Zambia.
Two government officials confirmed the authenticity of the report to The Times, highlighting yet another staggering failure in the agency’s logistical chain.
Just $1.6 million of the supplies held at the Kuehne+Nagel warehouses in Geel remain viable but that was as of September, so “unopened” doesn’t necessarily mean “usable.” The memo has pointed out that while the September supply looked fine on paper, the looming expiration dates on those items mean that now, six months later, they are looking at a potential graveyard of useless contraception. With active ingredients losing potency over time, relying on this questionable stock is not a risk worth taking.
The documents also reveal that a mix of political issues, worries about media attention and legal limits have caused the contraceptives to go to waste. This finding is backed by previously obtained documents and interviews with government officials and nonprofit groups. It was written by Kenneth Jackson, a State Department official working on wrapping up U.S.A.I.D, addressed to Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, who’s handling the agency’s shutdown. It lays out the options for dealing with the contraception, like whether to burn the damaged stock or if they should think about donating or selling what’s left. And if that wasn’t already ruining, the report uncovers how the Trump administration has been entertaining several ideas for getting rid of the contraceptives all along, despite making statements that they were already expired and were to be incinerated back in July 2025, along with rejecting the option to hand them over to humanitarian organizations like Doctors Without Borders, whose officials even offered to take the supplies at no cost to the U.S.
American officials seemed most concerned about how this might look. “As with all issues related to this matter, this carries the potential for additional media attention,” the document notes.
Until last year, the U.S. covered around 40% of contraceptives for people in low-income countries and played a big role in pushing for new, long-acting methods. But after cutting its aid, Britain, another major funder, also slashed their support. A recent study in The Lancet Global Health warned that these cuts could leave up to 100 million people in 41 countries without access to contraception in the next five years.
What’s the plan to fix this going forward? The answer is not clear. Bill White, the Trump administration’s ambassador to Belgium, hasn’t replied to any questions about the contraception issue.
Jeanne Shaheen, a senator from New Hampshire and a Democrat who’s been keeping an eye on the case, mentioned in an email “unconscionable and wasteful for the Trump administration to leave nearly $10 million in taxpayer-funded family planning commodities to expire in warehouses rather than making them available to the vulnerable women who need them to survive and support healthy families.”
Mihir Mankad, the global health advocacy and policy director for Doctors Without Borders in the U.S., mentioned that they’re all set to distribute any supplies that are still good to go. He also noted in an email that the institution “maintains its willingness to support a transfer of the supplies to the places that need them most and avoid the loss of these vital items if agreements can be made between the different governments concerned.”
Mr. Mankad has also mentioned that his team is unsure why their offer to help hasn’t gone anywhere.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government continues to cover the storage costs for the contraceptives, even the ones that went bad, for the last 14 months.
