'No longer fit for purpose': Politicisation of aid endangers millions, medical researchers warn

'No longer fit for purpose': Politicisation of aid endangers millions, medical researchers warn Submitted by Yasmine El-Sabawi on Mon, 05/18/2026 - 16:49 A new report in The Lancet suggests millions of people are left to die when aid systems are guided by the whims of politicians A blood-stained gurney is seen at Nasser hospital in the city of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, after an Israeli air strike on 21 April 2026 killed three Palestinians nearby (Bashar Taleb/AFP) Off A dire warning from researchers at The Lancet medical journal says humanitarian aid, particularly in support of global public health systems, has been so reduced that it has become "rationing by design" and now demands an immediate overhaul. The architecture of the humanitarian system has become so selective and difficult to access that it is merely "survival triage", more than three dozen researchers from the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health and The Lancet Commission on health, conflict, and forced displacement argued in a report published on Wednesday. The politicisation of aid - when it is linked to national security and foreign policy priorities - is a key factor in the breakdown of the system, particularly after US President Donald Trump returned to power in January 2025 and gutted the US Agency for International Development (USAID).