“The aid cuts came as a total shock to me. We were told to immediately stop working, without prior notice. This left me devastated. I thought about how my clients and I would access our treatment, and about the increased risk of medication stockouts and shortages. Clients are struggling with anxiety due to the loss of our support. One of my clients said, ‘It is so sad that you have stopped working. It will be hard for us to visit the clinic because we got used to you and your support.  You welcomed us so well.’ I fear that the progress we have made in improving the lives of our clients will be reversed and the gains we have achieved will be lost.”  Chichi Chilikwela, Mentor Mother in Zambia  

Drastic and life-threatening shifts in the global health funding landscape have put the lives of millions across sub-Saharan Africa at risk. A recent study has found that up to 2.9 million more children and adults will die from HIV-related causes before 2030 because of aid cuts by countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. As a result of these changes, mothers2mothers (m2m) has been forced to stop providing life-saving health services in some of the countries we work in, and hundreds of m2m community health workers have had to be laid off. But we won’t let this stop our life-saving work. The communities we serve need us more than ever, and we are determined to continue to use our proven and impactful peer-led model to deliver health for all. 

That is why, we are launching “Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.”—an urgent campaign to raise awareness of the catastrophic impact that these cuts are having on some of the most vulnerable communities around the world, and to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring everyone, everywhere can access the basic healthcare they need and deserve. Not only will this make the communities we work with healthier and more resilient, it will also make the world at large a safer and more prosperous place. 

But we cannot do this alone. These cuts impact us all and we urgently need your help.  

So what is at stake? 

We are facing a preventable health crisis… 

Decades of progress in HIV, maternal and child health, malaria, tuberculosis and non-communicable diseases are being reversed and stopped in their tracks due to the drastic cuts to foreign aid. At least five countries—the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany and the Netherlands—which together provide more than 90% of global funding to fight HIV, have announced plans to implement significant cuts to foreign aid, generally between 8% and 70% between 2025 and 2026. And it is not just HIV services being cut—these changes are affecting vaccinations, malaria, TB…and many more.  

Every day that passes, millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa are no longer able to access vital health services and are dying from illnesses that are entirely preventable and treatable. According to the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Jean Kaseya, 2 million to 4 million more people could die annually on the continent due to rapidly vanishing donor aid, low domestic health spending, and a surge in public health emergencies.  

In 2025, m2m has seen our funding significantly affected by the United States Government’s and subsequent contract terminations. Over 650,000 people across three African countries (Lesotho, South Africa, and Zambia) have lost access to health services provided by m2m. 

We must not turn our back on people and communities most at risk. 

…As well as a jobs crisis…  

This isn’t just a health crisis—it’s a jobs crisis, in a global health workforce that is 70% female. In just the last couple of months, an already under-resourced and under-staffed African health workforce has seen tens of thousands of health workers lose their jobs.  

m2m is experiencing that loss first hand, having had to let go more hundreds of our own female frontline staff, the majority of whom are the primary breadwinners in their households. 

…Which are threatening global health security. 

While the immediate impact of cutbacks to foreign aid is being felt in the Global South, it is only a matter of time before the whole world feels the aftershocks. Diseases don’t respect borders, families naturally want to find better solutions for their loved ones elsewhere, and these changes put the health of everyone, everywhere at risk. The threats to global health security are very real and looming.  

By investing a small fraction of resources (which typically represents less than 1% of GDP in the U.S. and U.K.) into better health for all around the world, we can build more prosperous societies that benefit us all. 

Where do we go from here – We can’t Stop. We Won’t Stop. Health Matters. 

m2m Mentor Mothers have had to overcome tremendous challenges in their personal lives, and so we won’t stop. We can’t stop. 

Since 2001, our work has been anchored in shared humanity, stopping preventable diseases, and developing a clear path to national government leadership. And so, thanks to our diversified funding and through strategic use of our financial reserves, m2m’s work will continue. We are more determined than ever to use our proven, peer-led model to bring integrated primary healthcare services at scale to African communities who need them most, to share our learnings to strengthen health systems, and to increase our collective capacities and impact in addressing preventable diseases. We will reposition m2m so that the organisation is best able to deliver on these objectives in this new global development environment.  And we know that CHWs play a vital role in delivering essential primary health care. 

In this way, we will help to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic and reduce preventable death and illness.

How can you help? 

We won’t stop, because we can’t stop. But we need your help—spread the word, consider a donation, or other ways in which you could partner and support us. This is the biggest challenge that m2m has ever faced. 

Throughout the coming weeks and months, we will share more but for now, sign up to our newsletter today to get the latest updates about our “Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.” campaign, and/or email [email protected] if you want to partner with us and help us create a fairer, healthier world.