Concerns are growing that the Trump administration may be holding $9.7 million worth of contraceptives in Belgium until they expire.
Concerns are growing about the Trump administration A $9.7 million storage decision Contraceptives purchased from the US in Belgian warehouses until they expire.
The undelivered contraceptives, originally intended for donation to various African countries and acquired by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) during the Biden administration, are now being stored indefinitely in warehouses in Belgium, CNN reported, as many US foreign aid programs were suspended under Trump.
With most supplies set to expire in 2028 or 2029, and the earliest shipment in April 2027, health workers fear the US government could let supplies sit until they are unusable or ineligible for export.
Elsewhere, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) says that most supplies is intended For Tanzania, which provides minimum storage requirements for medical imports. IPPF head of supply chain Marcel Van Valen said about one million injectable vials and more than 400,000 implants, worth a combined $3.97 million, would no longer meet Tanzania’s import standards by the end of this year or the middle of next year. According to Tanzanian regulations, “any device with a shelf life of more than 24 months with less than 60% shelf life” cannot be imported.
“It is urgent that we get these resources before they become inadmissible for importation,” said Dr. Bakari Omari, program coordinator at Umati NGO, an IPPF member organization in Tanzania. “Removable contraceptives account for 28% of the country’s total annual need, and not having them is already affecting clients’ reproductive health and family planning freedoms.”
The US State Department announced earlier that it had made a “preliminary decision” to destroy the contraceptives stored in Belgium by burning $167,000. However, the plan was blocked by regulations in Flanders, Belgium, which prohibit the incineration of reusable medical devices.
After the incineration plans became public, aid workers urged the Trump administration to deliver the contraceptives to women in Tanzania, Mali, Kenya and other countries or sell them to NGOs that could distribute them. They warn that undersupply, combined with cuts to family planning programs, could lead to economic hardship due to maternal mortality, unsafe abortions and unplanned pregnancies.
However, representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and MSI Reproductive Choices claim that the US government has ignored or rejected their offers to buy the contraceptives.
“Destination countries, including Tanzania (the main recipient), as well as other countries such as Malawi, Bangladesh, Congo, Kenya, apply import rules that limit the entry of drugs to a certain percentage of the shelf life,” said Marcel Van Valen, head of IPPF’s supply chain.
Contraceptives generally consist of long-term birth control methods, including intrauterine devices (IUDs), rod implants, injections, and pills containing levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol. However, a US State Department spokesman previously described the supplies in Belgium as “some abortive products related to terminated Biden-era USAID contracts,” a controversial remark that reflects ongoing US debates about when life begins.
UNFPA is advancing its work efforts to obtain contraceptives and address the ongoing maternal health crisis.
“Contraceptives save lives. “There are more than 250 million women worldwide who want to avoid pregnancy but are unable to access family planning,” UNFPA said in a statement. “UNFPA and its partners estimate that filling this unmet need for family planning could reduce maternal deaths by approximately 25%.”
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