The US government’s plan to destroy $9.7 million worth of contraceptives is a callous waste that puts the health and lives of women and girls at risk, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Thursday.
Media reports state that these supplies were purchased and are ready to be shipped to fragile and conflict-affected regions.
“Contraceptives are essential and lifesaving health products,” said Avril Benoît, CEO of MSF USA. “MSF has seen firsthand the positive health benefits when women and girls can freely make their own health decisions by choosing to prevent or delay pregnancy—and the dangerous consequences when they cannot. The US government’s decision to incinerate millions of dollars’ worth of contraceptives is an intentionally reckless and harmful act against women and girls everywhere.”
According to Benoît, the US government manufactured this problem, and that destroying valuable medical items that were already paid for by US taxpayers does nothing to combat waste or improve efficiency.
“This administration is willing to burn birth control and let food supplies rot, risking people’s health and lives to push a political agenda,” she charged.
The contraceptives—including implants, oral contraceptive pills, injectable contraceptives, and IUDs—were purchased with US tax dollars for USAID family planning and reproductive health programs that were shut down following the US government’s decision to defund them earlier this year.
MSF said its teams are concerned about supply shortages of these items.
“In the communities served by MSF—whether impacted by conflict, disease outbreaks, natural and human-made disasters, or exclusion from health care—access to contraception is already constrained,” the statement reads in part. “Contexts that previously relied upon USAID-funded contraceptive supplies are at a heightened risk of supply chain disruptions and stockouts.”
According to reports, the contraceptive supplies housed in Belgium are set to be destroyed by the end of July despite being well within their expiration date and in good condition. The earliest expiration date of some supplies is 2027, with many not expiring until 2031.
Up to $40 million of US taxpayer money is stuck in a supply chain
It is estimated that $40 million worth of contraceptives are stuck at various points in the global health supply chain. Reports indicate that there is another warehouse of USAID-purchased contraceptives in the United Arab Emirates, but the US government’s plan for those supplies is unknown.
MSF calls for transparency from the US government regarding the extent and nature of warehoused supplies that were intended for global health and humanitarian contexts and those that it is likely set to destroy, and the rationale used to justify the destruction of these medical supplies.
“Access to contraception is crucial to women and girls’ health, autonomy, and self-determination. We cannot minimize its importance,” said Rachel Milkovich, senior policy and advocacy specialist for MSF USA. “We must remember that these contraceptives had an intended destination. Women and girls were expecting to use them. It is unconscionable to think of these health products being burned when the demand for them globally is so great.”