Doctors hauled me into the hospital for emergency surgery on my vagina after Trump’s election… here’s why

Asanda Zondi was ordered to report to a South African health clinic to have an experimental vaginal implant removed following the Trump administration’s shutdown of USAID.  

The 22-year-old was weeks into a trial for a possible HIV treatment in which she had a silicone ring inserted into her vagina. 

But after President Donald Trump issued an abrupt stop-work order on foreign aid programs, the trial Ms Zondi was in, as well as dozens of others, was immediately suspended. 

Trump’s executive order freezing foreign aid meant the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which funded the study, withdrew its support and ordered research under its supervision to be halted immediately. 

The sudden stoppage, however, meant researchers were no longer able to carry out their studies, including monitoring participants who had received experimental treatments or had medical devices in their bodies.

Ms Zondi said this left her confused and scared, and other women in the study felt the same way.

She said: ‘Some people are afraid because we don’t know exactly what was the reason. We don’t really know the real reason of pausing the study.’

USAID funding supports HIV clinics in Africa – like the one pictured above in Uganda (file photo)

USAID is America’s primary humanitarian aid agency. Programs it funds alleviate food insecurity, educate children, provide clean water, conduct scientific research, work to curb the production of cocaine in Peru and protect the environment in 120 countries.

In addition to a foreign aid freeze, a government reorganization program spearheaded by Elon Musk led to the massive downsizing of USAID

Since the Trump administration reduced the agency, slashing employment from 10,000 people to 300, dozens of studies across the globe addressing crises like HIV and malaria have been abruptly halted.

The order has left thousands of people Like Ms Zondi across the globe with experimental devices and drugs in their systems without access to the doctors heading the trials in which they had been participating. 

This also means researchers cannot publicly discuss their work, interact with patients, process samples, or analyze data – presenting a moral dilemma for some as they knew they would be breaking the law if they helped people in their studies.

Dr Leila Mansoor, a scientist with the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and an investigator on the trial Ms Zondi participated in, decided she and her team would help their participants anyway.

She told The New York Times: ‘My first thought when I saw this order was, “There are rings in people’s bodies and you cannot leave them.”

‘For me ethics and participants come first. There is a line.’

Another trial co-run by the University of Oxford and under USAID’s funding had given about 100 people in England an experimental malaria vaccine. 

They would typically meet with researchers heading the study to report any side effects and have blood and cell samples taken to determine whether the vaccine was working.

The study is meant to last two years, but now, without US involvement, Oxford will have to reshuffle its research allocations and pick up the slack.

A researcher who worked on the study and spoke on condition of anonymity said: ‘It’s unethical to test anything in humans without taking it to the full completion of studies.

‘You put them at risk for no good reason.’

The sudden reduction of the agency left doctors in a moral dilemma – they knew they would be breaking the law if they helped people in their studies

USAID also funds studies for malaria and tuberculosis treatment in children, cervical cancer screening, nutritional support for children, and lactation and nutrition support for pregnant women (file photo)

Another study called CATALYST evaluates the efficacy of the long-acting antiviral cabotegravir for HIV prevention across five countries.

Participants are meant to get bimonthly injections to bolster protection but without them, and a carefully managed transition off the drug, protective levels can fall dangerously low while remaining high enough to foster drug-resistant mutations if the patient does contract HIV.

Dr Kenneth Ngure, president-elect of the International AIDS Society, said: ‘It’s wrong on so many levels — you can’t just stop.’

And in Uganda, researchers have been testing a new treatment course for tuberculosis in children. With the sudden stoppage, those children will lose access to potentially lifesaving medicine.

A researcher in the study said: ‘You can’t walk away from them, you just can’t.’

Other studies previously funded by the USAID and now halted include those for malaria treatment in children under age 5 in Mozambique, cholera treatment in Bangladesh, a screen-and-treat method for cervical cancer in Malawi and tuberculosis treatment for children and teenagers in Peru and South Africa.

Additionally, there are studies for nutritional support for children in Ethiopia, early childhood development interventions in Cambodia, ways to support pregnant and breastfeeding women to reduce malnutrition in Jordan, and an mRNA vaccine technology for HIV in South Africa.

Elon Musk scaled back USAID this week, slashing all but roughly 300 jobs that cover research and humanitarian aid across 120 countries

Americans often overestimate US foreign aid, with polls showing they believe it makes up 25 percent of the federal budget and should be around 10 percent. In reality, it is less than one percent

The stoppage stemmed from a review by Mr Musk – supported by Trump – who decided this week to shut down USAID.

‘It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm it in,’ Musk said of the six-decade-old agency. 

He said: ‘What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.’

‘We’re shutting it down,’ he said in the audio-only appearance on X.

A White House memo recently claimed the agency, whose budget is $25billion, ‘has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight’ for decades.

Mr Musk, head of the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, criticized USAID, calling it a ‘criminal organization’ and stating ‘Time for it to die.’

Opinion polls consistently show Americans estimate foreign aid to make up about 25 percent of the federal budget. When asked what they think the appropriate level should be, they suggest around 10 percent.

In reality, it accounts for less than one percent of the federal budget.