Aid cuts will cost lives: MSF responds to UK Government Spending Review

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is deeply disappointed by the UK Government’s decision to proceed with drastic reductions to Official Development Assistance (ODA), as announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Spending Review.

In this response, MSF UK calls for the Government to reverse the aid cuts and to commit to an effective aid strategy that prioritises the lives of those in dire need.

Dr Natalie Roberts, Executive Director of MSF UK, said:

“There is no doubt - these cuts will cost lives. Even before the UK Government’s announcement of a drastic reduction to its international aid budget, the needs of vulnerable people impacted by conflict, disease, and hunger had already far outstripped the available funding. 

The Government has cited these cuts as a ‘difficult decision’, but this was in fact a political choice to deprioritise saving lives and alleviating suffering. 

As other governments around the world abandon their commitments to assist the world’s most marginalised people, the UK could have chosen to stand in solidarity with them. Instead, millions of people around the world, already facing unimaginable hardship, will now be left without crucial humanitarian support.”  

Whilst MSF does not receive UK government funding, we have already seen the impact of aid cuts on the communities we serve.

These cuts also come at a pivotal moment in global health, with the upcoming replenishments for both Gavi and the Global Fund. The UK has played a leading role as a major donor to both Gavi and the Global Fund, driving significant progress in access to lifesaving vaccines for preventable diseases such as measles and diphtheria, and in the fight against HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. 

Despite this progress, there is an urgent need to do more; the UK must not turn its back on hard-won gains which are now at serious risk if current investment levels are not sustained.  

The UK can still reverse these cuts. MSF UK calls on the government to not go ahead with this devastating course of action, and to instead commit to an effective aid strategy that prioritises the health and lives of those in dire need.

Whilst the Chancellor has stated she will reduce the use of harmful contingency asylum accommodation, the spending review offers no tangible commitment to reduce the unacceptably high proportion of the UK’s ODA budget to cover the costs of asylum accommodation in the UK.

This diverts vital resources away from their core purpose - supporting communities around the world grappling with conflict, disaster and humanitarian crises.  

We continue to call for the implementation of a well-functioning and compassionate asylum system in the UK, but this must not come at the cost of the UK’s global humanitarian commitments.