US President Donald Trump's administration is blocking funding for a swath of public health programmes run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.
These include youth violence prevention programmes, research on preventing gun injuries and deaths and efforts targeting diabetes, chronic kidney disease and tobacco use, according to the report.
The money withheld could not be determined, but it could be up to $200m (R3.59bn), the WSJ reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The CDC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The White House has previously stated its intention to reduce US health spending by more than a quarter next year, with the National Institutes of Health and the CDC facing the brunt of billions of dollars in cuts.
Earlier this week, Susan Monarez was confirmed as CDC director to lead a downsized agency as the White House moves to slash its budget by nearly $3.6bn (R64.73bn), reducing it to about (R71.94bn).
The cuts follow a layoff plan enacted by US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr that eliminated 2,400 positions in the CDC, though about 700 of those workers have since been rehired.
Reuters
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