After US Aid Cuts, Faith-Based Clinics in Kenya Struggle to Reach Rural Patients
One year after the US shut down USAID and cut HIV funding, faith-based health clinics in Kenya's Tharaka-Nithi County are losing contact with rural patients who depend on them for life-saving care.
A year after the United States closed USAID and slashed HIV funding, faith-based health clinics in Kenya's Tharaka-Nithi County are struggling to keep up with patients who live hours away on dirt roads.
Before the cuts, these clinics relied on USAID money to pay community health workers who traveled to remote villages, tracked patients on antiretroviral therapy, and made sure people did not miss doses. That work has largely stopped.
"We used to know where every patient was," said one clinic administrator in the region. "Now we are losing people. We do not know if they are still taking their medication."
Kenya has one of the highest HIV burdens in sub-Saharan Africa. The country receives more U.S. global health funding than almost any other nation. When PEPFAR and USAID programs were cut, the impact hit rural areas hardest, where government health infrastructure is thin and faith-based organizations fill the gap.
Christianity Today reporter Emily Belz visited Tharaka-Nithi County in July 2026 and found clinics operating with skeleton staff, patients going weeks without follow-up, and community health workers who had not been paid in months.
Some clinics have turned to local churches for emergency support. Congregations are collecting food and medicine to distribute to patients who can no longer afford to travel to facilities. But church leaders say they cannot replace what USAID provided.
"We are doing what we can," said one pastor who runs a small clinic attached to his church. "But we are not a government. We cannot do this alone."
The U.S. State Department has said it is reviewing global health commitments. No timeline for restoring funding has been announced.
