Sonam Mukhiya, left, lies next to her 3-year-old brother, Yubraj Mukhiya, and their grandmother in their home in Gaur, Nepal, on May 19, 2026. Their mother, Kabita Mukhiya, died in December while 28-weeks pregnant amid disruptions to nutrition programs and reproductive outreach services following last year’s foreign aid cuts by the United States. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal.
GAUR, Nepal (AP) — Global cuts to foreign aid are unraveling decades of progress in maternal and child health, raising fears that 2025 could mark the first increase in child deaths this century. In one Nepal village, neonatal deaths had fallen to zero before a U.S.-funded program was canceled; within months, newborns were dying again as health services vanished.
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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Anita Gupta, 20, receives an ultrasound in Gaur, Nepal, on May 20, 2026. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal. Nitu Devi, 22, who is pregnant, sits on a bed before an ultrasound inside a clinic in Gaur, Nepal, on May 20, 2026. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal. Lachhiya Devi sits with her 5-year-old granddaughter, Sonam Mukhiya, in her home in Gaur, Nepal, on May 19, 2026. Sonam’s mother, Kabita Mukhiya, died in December while 28-weeks pregnant amid disruptions to nutrition programs and reproductive outreach services following last year’s foreign aid cuts by the United States. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal. Residents sit outside their homes in Gaur, Nepal, on May 19, 2026. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal. Men sit outside a store in Gaur, Nepal, on May 19, 2026. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal. Children play in Gaur, Nepal, on May 19, 2026. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal. A woman collects water from a well in Gaur, Nepal, on May 19, 2026. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal. A woman receives an examination from a doctor inside a clinic in Gaur, Nepal, on May 20, 2026. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal. A man washes his face on May 19, 2026, in Gaur, Nepal. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal. Pregnant women wait for an ultrasound inside a clinic in Gaur, Nepal, on May 20, 2026. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal. A child pulls a goat in Gaur, Nepal, on May 19, 2026. Image by Bram Janssen/AP Photo. Nepal.
August 12, 2026
